A MILKMAN convicted of raping a woman failed to clear his name at the Court of Appeal.

Adrian Gallagher, of Ballantrae Road, Blackburn, was found guilty at Preston Crown Court of one count of rape in March last year.

He was told he will stay in jail until he no longer poses a threat to the public.

The court heard that Gallagher had attacked his victim at around 12am on May 1, 2005.

At the crown court he was found guilty of an initial rape, but three further charges laid against him relating to alleged incidents in the following hours were thrown out by a jury.

Yesterday three judges at London's Court of Appeal were told that the jury had delivered inconsistent verdicts, and Gallagher's conviction should be quashed as "unsafe".

However Lord Justice Hooper, sitting with Mr Justice Gibbs and Mr Justice Roderick Evans, said the jury was entitled to come to the decision that they did.

The court heard that Gallagher, a 40-year-old milkman, had admitted demanding sex from his victim but claimed no intercourse had taken place.

Because of the trauma of the crime, it took her several weeks before contacting police, although she did tell her employer and friends what had happened.