Baker's youngest victim - a schoolgirl who has just turned 16 - knows exactly how she feels about her attacker.

"I hate him. I want him put away for a very long time. In fact, I want someone to do to him what he has done to me."

Sitting in the coffee lounge of a Southend hotel, flanked by her police chaperone and a detective, this is one plucky teenager terrified at the thought of giving evidence in court, but one who was prepared to go along just so she can close what has been the worst chapter of her young life.

Slim, stunningly attractive and very quietly spoken, she has taken a couple of hours out from school to speak to This Is Essex.

And it is crystal clear how much she loathes the man who dragged her from the London Road and brutally raped her in the grounds of Belfairs swimming pool, Leigh.

"I was so angry. I wanted to know why he chose me? I read about things like this in the newspapers but never dreamed it would happen to me.

"I have grown up in Southend. Until then I had always felt safe to go out and about on my own."

Baker's terrifying and degrading attacks will continue to haunt his victims for years to come.

His reign of terror is over.

But for the young women he assaulted it is far from over. They must struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives - try to get back to some form of normality.

Baker's arrest offered some peace of mind for them but even then they were living under the cloud of a looming court case.

The Belfairs victim says she is still very frightened and paranoid - even though she knows the man that attacked her is in jail.

"I can't walk down the street without turning my head to make sure there is no-one behind me.

"I just don't go out alone. If I have to then I get a taxi. My friends have been brilliant. They make sure I am not left alone and give me money to get a taxi home, if I need it.

"This has made me much more aware of how scary the world really is."

With the support of her mum and friends the victim was encouraged to tell police what had happened to her.

She said: "I didn't want to go to the police first of all. He said if I did he would come after me.

"My mum said it would be all right and I felt much better once I had. They have been really helpful.

"I would tell anyone who has been attacked that they should tell police - otherwise it could happen to other people."

The trauma of Baker's horrific and degrading attack on August 31 last year will stay with his young victim for life.

Day by day she will learn to deal with what happened.

"I can't actually think about what happened to me - I have blocked it out. I just take each day as it comes.

"I want him never to come out of prison again." How police deal with rape complaints

When a report of a rape arrives at the police station Det Con Angie Scothern is one of a team of specially trained officers on hand to help victims through their trauma.

Essex Police hope the days when rape victims were reluctant to contact them - because they feared how they would be treated by officers - are long gone.

Forces now have staff who are specially trained in dealing with the victims of sexual offences.

As a result, many more victims of rape and sexual assault feel able to make an official complaint. When the report of a rape comes in, Det Con Scothern's priority is to take the complaint seriously and make the victim as comfortable as possible.

She then needs to gather evidence to help prove or disprove the alleged crime.

The victim, whether male or female, will have the examination process and court system explained in detail before they are asked to decide whether they want to go ahead with the complaint or not.

Some still withdraw their allegations simply because they fear going to court.

Det Con Scothern said: "The choice always has to be theirs. I would never force anyone into making a complaint.

"At the end of the day it is my job to help them make an informed choice."

Essex Police have five sympathy suites which provide a calm environment away from the police station where victims of any crime can take time to come to terms with what has happened to them.

They were first introduced in the early 1990s in response to the public's perception of how police dealt with the victims of sexual crimes.

It was felt the suites would go some way to making sure victims were treated with the respect they deserved.

Det Con Scothern said: "I always ask if there was something we did which hacked them off.

"They don't want to be patronised or pitied and it is vital they are kept informed of exactly what is going on with the case. If we ask and there was something which aggravated them then we can make efforts not to let it happen again.

"I hope it is better now and that we are getting the treatment of victims right."

The doctor's room in one of the sympathy suites, where rape victims are given support Biggest ever Crimewatch response

A Crimewatch UK television appeal to try and find the sex attacker saw viewers help to crack yet another difficult high profile case.

Before the plea for information had even been broadcast in full, detectives received vital information which was to lead them to their man.

The trailer alone had been enough to prompt a phenomenal reaction.

In all, the broadcast - which included an emotional appeal from the boyfriend of Southend's Queensway underpass victim - prompted a flood of 525 telephone calls from viewers containing 200 possible names for the attacker.

The response stunned detectives.

"This gave an indication to us of just how the crimes struck a chord with the public.

"They wanted this attacker caught just as badly as we did."

The appeal prompted one of the highest responses ever seen by Crimewatch. Operation Monarch - the official name for the inquiry - spanned three police forces, Essex, Sussex and the Met.

Its senior investigating team was Det Supt Bright and his deputy Det Insp Cliff Haines, normally stationed at Rayleigh.

It was launched from Southend police station on November 5, but was later joined by an incident room at Brighton and another at Marylebone in London.

Eventually the inquiry became so big its officers and a growing mountain of paperwork amalgamated at Belgravia police station under the overall supervision of Met Police commander Paddy Tomkins.

At its height it involved 42 officers and five civilian support staff.

Some 552 statements were taken and a massive 1,805 lines of inquiry pursued.

Scene - Crimewatch recreated the minutes leading up to the attack in the underpass in Queensway, Southend

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.