A WEYMOUTH woman today told of her rape ordeal at the hands of a paedophile linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Bette Balfour, 49, was just 12 years of age when she was lured into family friend and neighbour Raymond Hewlett’s car before he drove her to nearby moors and raped her.

Hewlett is being investigated by detectives hired by Madeleine McCann’s parents after it emerged he was in Portugal – an hour away from Praia da Luz where the family was staying – when the three-year-old vanished.

And Bette, who lives in Dorchester Road, is convinced Hewlett was capable of abducting Madeleine.

“He’s evil, sadistic and devious,” she said.

“He would do something like that.”

Brave Bette agreed to waive her right to anonymity and speak to the Dorset Echo after hearing that Gerry and Kate McCann’s hired detectives are checking Hewlett’s alibi.

She said: “My mum phoned and asked if I had my television on.

“When I saw the name I panicked and broke down in tears with all of the memories coming back.

“I’ve never been able to move on from it.

“I want him put away again.”

Bette says she has been unable to get over the attack on her when she was 12.

The sexual assault took place when she was growing up in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

Hewlett found her on her way to school and said her mother was unwell and needed to see her.

But instead of taking her home he drove to nearby Widdup Moor and forced a rag soaked in paint thinner on to her face to knock her out before attacking her.

Bette fought back tears as she described the day in 1972 when Hewlett persuaded her to get into his car.

She said: “I was 12 years old and on my way to school when Raymond pulled up in his car.

“I knew him because he lived next door to us.

“He said ‘your mum wants you as she’s upset and unwell’.

“He said he had to get some petrol first so he filled the car up and he bought some paint thinner too and then he took me to the moors.”

Bette said once at nearby Widdup Moor he tried to assault her but she tried to fight him off and escape.

She said: “He tried to do something but there was a struggle as I tried to get out of the car so he put a rag with the paint thinner on it over my face and put me to sleep.

“The police told me I was lucky to be alive as he used enough paint thinner to kill someone.

“I had blisters around my nose and burns around my mouth.

“He’s evil.

“He thought I was dead.”

Bette has since had three failed marriages and has lived in different places throughout her life, moving to Weymouth with her brother Roy after a short spell in Blackpool.

Hewlett, 64, is currently in hospital in Aachen, Germany, being treated for cancer.

Investigators hope to talk to him about Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

They believe he may match the description of a ‘scruffy’ man spotted near the McCann’s apartment at the time of the abduction.

British police also plan to question him about the abduction and sexual assault of an eight-year-old in Manchester in 1975.

And German police have announced they are to seek a DNA sample from Hewlett.

Hewlett served 12 months of an 18-month sentence for the assault on Bette in 1972.

In 1978 he attempted to rape a 14-year-old girl and was jailed again for four years.

Then in 1988 he was jailed for six years for abducting a 14-year-old Cheshire schoolgirl.

Bette added: “I don’t care that he’s in hospital.”

“I hope he suffers and I would like to see him back in prison as he didn’t get long enough.

“I’m still looking over my shoulder because when he did it he said if I told anybody he would hunt me down and do a proper job.

“That’s why I’m panicky and I move all over the place. I want some closure on this.

“If he dies then that’s good because I can stop running.”

Bette’s brother Roy said when he heard about Hewlett being linked to the McCann case he wanted to find him.

“It put a lump in my throat,” he said.

“It makes me angry and sad that I was not there to save her.”