A MAN likened to the Yorkshire Ripper during a trial for attacking a prostitute is facing a lengthy sentence after a jury convicted him of kidnap.

Michael Dodd was told he will be considered for an indefinite sentence for the protection of the public once reports have been prepared by probation workers and a psychiatrist.

Last night, Dodd's victim told of her relief that her attacker was found guilty, and the judge's comments that he would be locked up for "a considerable" period.

"I am just so relieved that he is off the streets and cannot do this again or harm anyone else," the 29-year-old woman said. "It is a relief that the jury believed me and I am still here today."

Dodd tried to drag the vice girl into bushes in a secluded part of the red light district in Middlesbrough but fled when the woman's screams alerted two passers-by.

The men chased 25-year-old Dodd onto the nearby A66 where they rugby tackled him to the ground and detained him until the police arrived.

A knife was found in Dodd's pocket and a hammer was recovered from the scene of the struggle in the central reservation of the dual carriageway.

The jury at Teesside Crown Court convicted Dodd on 11-1 majority verdicts of kidnap and kidnap with intent to commit a sexual offence after five-and-a-half hours' deliberation.

Dodd, of Parliament Road, Middlesbrough, was unanimously cleared of possessing an offensive weapon - the hammer - and a sexual assault, but had admitted possessing a knife for protection.

His defence team had argued that one of Dodd's two homeless pursuers had been carrying the hammer to break up scrap found in skips.

Dodd told police he had been pestered for sex by the woman as he walked through the red light area in the St Hilda's district on October 5 last year.

He said he pushed her away when she refused to listen to his rebuttals, and fled when she started screaming for help and saw the two have-a-go heroes.

The jury was told that Dodd was jailed for three years in 2000 for kidnap and assault after he tried to drag a 15-year-old girl onto waste ground from Hartlepool town centre.

Judge Stephen Ashurst remanded the former part-time soldier in custody until he is sentenced at Leeds Crown Court next month following the preparation of the reports.

The judge told him: "You know you have been convicted of two very serious offences and because of your history I have some important considerations to bear in mind.

"At the very forefront of my consideration will be the danger you pose to women."