'Why's the burglar who raped me allowed to be anonymous? I've had no help and I've lost everything'

Inside Julie's first-floor flat in north Manchester, rolling CCTV footage is projected onto the wall so she can see who comes and goes.

Every 15 minutes she goes to her front door to check it's still locked. At night, she sits next to the panic alarm that's been installed.

It wasn't always like this for Julie, which is not her real name. She was once a strong and confident mother and grandmother, but now she jumps at the slightest noise.

READ MORE: 'I thought my bruises were from playing netball - I could never have imagined the truth'

Her life as she knew it was shattered on the evening of Saturday 16 October, 2021, when a teenage boy, over forty years younger, broke into her home and raped her.

That weekend, she'd enjoyed a trip away to Blackpool with her sister. She arrived home to her flat in Harpurhey and that evening, a friend popped round for a drink.

Once her friend had left, Julie recalls locking the gated compound and returning to her flat, before falling asleep. A few hours later, she was awoken by the sound of someone 'rummaging' around.

She called out, hoping her grandson, who had been due to stay over, might have let himself in. But when she didn't get a response, she froze with fear.

Julie dragged herself out of bed, and attempted to push the stranger out of her bedroom, but she was overpowered and subjected to a horrific and violent rape. She lay helpless on the floor, before gathering the strength to run outside and scream for help.

It was only some time after reporting her ordeal to the police that she found out her attacker was aged just 16. His voice and physical ability led her to believe he was much older.

Following a trial at Manchester Crown Square last May, the boy, who cannot be named