A SAVAGE sex attacker who left a 15-year-old girl's life in tatters has failed in a bid to have his sentence cut.

Geoffrey Banks, 27, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, abducted the teenager as she walked along Ainslie Wood Gardens in Chingford and subjected her to an hour of sexual depravity in woodland in September last year.

In dismissing attempts to get his life sentence reduced, the Appeal Court concluded that his sentence was "not a day too long" for the depraved ordeal to which he subjected the teenager.

Mrs Justice Hallet, sitting with Lord Justice Judge and Judge Andrew Fox, said: "Any man who deliberately targets a young stranger, intending to kidnap and rape her, can expect a very substantial sentence."

Butcher Banks, who grew up in Chingford, was sentenced to life, with a recommendation that he serve at least ten years before being considered for parole at Snaresbrook Crown Court on April 20.

In theory, he could still be eligible for parole in six years.

Banks was brought to justice after appeals in the press and on the BBC Crimewatch programme. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping, attempted rape and four counts of indecent assault.

The life sentence was imposed on the basis that the attempted rape was his second serious offence.

In 1994, he was jailed for an unprovoked and vicious attack on a 15-year-old girl with an iron bar in Chingford Cemetery.

Mrs Justice Hallet said that on a September morning last year the victim a virgin was walking along the street when Banks stopped his car, grabbed her from behind and put a screwdriver to her throat.

He forced her into the car, threatened to put the screwdriver through her neck if she did not obey him, told her he was going to rape her and drove to woodland near Gascoigne Gardens in Woodford Green.

During an hour-long ordeal in the forest Banks made her undress and dress a number of times, unsuccessfully tried to rape her and subjected her to various sexual indignities.

He then made her return to his car and ordered her to push start it.

The judge said the girl was found in a "dreadfully distraught state".

Despite her ordeal, she could describe a distinctive scar on the stomach of her attacker. She could also remember the inside of his car.

She said the assailant had told her he was going to find another girl and "do the same to her".

Police went to Banks' Walthamstow home on November 14 following a call from a member of the public who had seen the Crimewatch programme. He fitted the attacker's description, including the stomach scar.

Mrs Justice Hallet said Banks had several previous convictions, including three for unprovoked outbursts of violence on innocent people.

In rejecting the submission that the trial judge did not give enough credit for the guilty pleas, Mrs Justice Hallet referred to DNA tests, which revealed Banks' saliva on the girl's breast.

When Bank's lawyers argued that this was not "overwhelming evidence" for attempted rape and consent could have been an issue, Mrs Justice Hallet noted that this was in the context of a 15-year-old stranger being abducted.

She listed a string of matters that aggravated the offence, including the victim's age, her being a virgin, the use of the screwdriver and the length of her ordeal.

She said: "Her life will never be the same again as a result of her horrific experience.

"The effect upon her and her family has been devastating. Her physical injuries may not have been serious or lasting, but the psychological injuries will be for a lifetime."

Further, she said Banks had planned the abduction to rape a young girl and not shown any remorse.

"Knowing full well that he is capable of extreme violence on young women, he has failed to take part in any (treatment) programme," she said.

"He remains, and will remain, a highly dangerous man. We have concluded that this sentence was not a day too long."