THE case of an Astley rapist who raped and threatened to kill a 13-year-old girl has featured in a BBC 2 documentary.

The Detectives show follows Greater Manchester Police's Sexual Offences Unit, which tackles historic and current sexual offences across the region.

The case of rapist Paul Fenner, from Astley, was covered in Sunday night's episode on BBC 2 at 9pm.

The attack happened on June 18, 2013 at around 8am near to the Merlewood Drive area of Astley as the girl was walking to meet friends before school.

At his sentencing Liverpool Crown Court heard how Fenner approached the girl from behind and covered her eyes before dragging her into nearby wasteland and raping her.

Fenner, aged 26 at the time, was arrested the next morning thanks to information from the public and was identified by several witnesses who had seen him in the area shortly before the incident.

He was sentenced to eight years in jail after pleading guilty to one count of rape and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The first episode of The Detectives follows the police's hunt for Fenner and gives a clear view of the techniques used by the detectives and how they work.

The investigating detectives explained in the episode how they would first ask Fenner to give a full account of his whereabouts, which could then be examined for lies and inconsistencies.

The episode follows Fenner's web of contradictions and reveals a phone call to his mother to explain why he was still in custody to which he told her: “It wasn’t me, mum,” up until his court appearance at which he pleaded guilty.

The episode following Fenner's case can be viewed on BBCi Player.