A KEIGHLEY councillor has been condemned for demanding a teenage rapist be chemically castrated.

Brian Morris said the boy, convicted on Monday of raping a 15-year-old girl in Braithwaite when the same age, should “suffer for the rest of his life”.

He spoke after a judge at Bradford Crown Court warned the boy, now 16, he would be locked up for the attack last November behind the estate’s Rainbow Centre.

UKIP politician Cllr Morris said: “Anyone found guilty of such a heinous crime should be chemically castrated.

“The victim in a rape case has to live with the trauma for the rest of their life. Why should the offender not have to live with the consequences for the rest of their life?”

Cllr Morris, who represents Keighley West ward on Bradford Council, said he realised his views might be criticised by some people, but believed others would be “singing from the hilltops”.

But his comments were heavily criticised by councillors and clergy.

Bradford Council leader, Cllr David Green, said: “I don’t think Cllr Morris’s comments are helpful or will bring any closure to the girl involved. I think he would be better seeing what he could do to support the girl.”

The Rev Derek Walmsley, who leads Anglican congregations in Keighley, described Cllr Morris’s comments as “very worrying” and “unhelpful at best”.

He said: “We aren’t the judge or the jury, and we have to be careful about making judgements when we don’t know the full facts.”

Cllr John Kirby, who represents Braithwaite on Keighley Town Council, said he agreed adult rapists should be chemically castrated.

But he added: “I do not agree with chemical castration in people under the age of 16.

“We have to concentrate on getting the young girl and her family as much help as possible.”

A jury at Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday convicted the teenage boy of two offences of raping the girl on November 15 last year when both youngsters were 15.

The boy, now 16, was warned by Judge Jonathan Rose that he would be locked up for raping a schoolgirl in bushes behind the Rainbow Centre, the children’s centre off Braithwaite Avenue.

The boy was granted bail until he is sentenced on January 15. He was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register immediately.

During last week’s trial, the jury heard the girl was curled up on the kitchen floor at her home sobbing hysterically when the police arrived.

She had scratches to her arms, back and legs, and her coat and knickers were recovered from an area of bushes at the back of the Rainbow Centre in Braithwaite Grove.

The boy claimed he and the girl had consensual sex after they left a group of friends, who were drinking and socialising in the grounds.

But the girl said he took hold of her and led her to bushes behind the centre, saying he had something to tell her.

He then pulled and pushed her to the ground and raped her.

lWhat do you think? We welcome letters on this or any other subject. E-mail richard.parker@keighleynews.co.uk or write to The Editor, Keighley News, 80-86 North Street, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD21 3AG. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number.