A teenager from the Trail area has been handed a 12-year prison sentence for the vicious sexual assault of an 80-year old woman.

The teenager, who cannot be identified, was 14 years old when he broke into the elderly women's home in Trail, tied her up and raped her repeatedly.

The woman tried to fight off the teen, the court heard, losing fingernails while attempting to stop the attack.

The Crown had argued the teenager, now 17, should be deemed a dangerous offender and be given an indefinite prison sentence.

But Judge Ronald Fabbro ruled that, although the crime was "almost a worst-case scenario", the teen’s youth had to be considered in sentencing because there is still the possibility of rehabilitation.

Fabbro did designate the teenager, who has a history of violence, a long-term offender.

That means he will have to be supervised for 10 years following his release from prison.