James Bodenham, 26, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison at the Old Bailey today after admitting one count of rape.

He attacked the girl in Addiscombe, Croydon, on the afternoon of March 1.

Her parents called police after she was arrived home in a “distressed state” from visiting a relative, police said.

Scotland Yard said today that Bodenham had “befriended” the girl on the day of the rape.

A police officer from Croydon CID, who had stopped him in the street a few weeks before the attack, later identified him from CCTV footage.

Detectives arrested Bodenham on March 19 and found his DNA on the victim’s clothes.