A sex attacker who stalked and killed his victim but kept his "guilty secret" for almost four years has been jailed for life.

Bus driver Michael Robinson, 30, of Bay Vue Road, Newhaven, will serve a minimum of 17 years for the murder and attempted rape of sports student Sara Cameron, whose naked body was discovered on Good Friday in April 2000.

The Finland-born 23-year-old was strangled the night before she was due to set off to take up a job at the Sydney Olympics.

Ex-soldier Robinson followed her off a late-night Metro train from Newcastle where she had been enjoying farewell drinks with friends.

He subjected her to a terrifying attack in a field just 100yds from her home in Earsdon, North Tyneside.

He admitted murder and attempted rape when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday.

Grainy CCTV footage, which was later enhanced, showed him running across the tracks at Longbenton Metro station, minutes before he boarded Sara's carriage.

He followed her off the train and pursued her as she walked home before strangling and leaving her naked. He later told detectives it was at this point he decided to rape her.

Mr Justice Henriques branded the defendant "exceptionally dangerous" and said the last minutes of his victim's life "must have been terrifying, painful and humiliating".

In the months and years that followed the attack Robinson continued to live in North Shields and moved to Newhaven late last year.

He moved in with a young woman and her son in a quiet street opposite a junior school. She had no idea about Robinson's evil crimes.

Detectives said he would sometimes chat about how the police investigation was progressing.

It was only when detectives pointed out to him he had shown no remorse during their seven interviews he showed any emotion.

His partner in Newhaven had no idea about his past and thought she had met the love of her life. Friends now believe he was merely using her as a cover.

The two lived seemingly happily in a ground-floor flat in Bay Vue Road. Robinson took a string of casual jobs and kept on the move, always looking over his shoulder for police.

By 2003, three years after the murder, he was more relaxed and started believing he had escaped the law.

He went on a driver training course with RDH Bus and Coach Services based in Plumpton, near Lewes.

Tom Hawthorn, a partner with the company, said: "He was with us for about eight days to learn the routes.

"He was undertaking our training programme but did not finish the course."

Mr Hawthorn said he met Robinson but declined to comment further.

Everyone was horrified when the connection was made.

Neighbours were stunned.

One said: "I couldn't believe it. He was quite a cheerful bloke who'd say hello in the mornings. You'd never have guessed. It's quite shocking to learn you lived near a man who could do such a thing."

When police finally arrived to arrest Robinson his girlfriend was traumatised but Robinson's face showed relief.

Newcastle police already knew he was their man after matching DNA evidence from the murder and a sample provided earlier by Robinson when he was convicted of causing criminal damage in Newcastle.

It was just a case of when he would turn up.

That day came on December 3, 2003, when Robinson got involved in a fight in Bevendean Crescent, Bevendean, Brighton.

Robinson used pepper spray on his victim and was arrested.

He was later released on police bail but the net was about to close. Police checked the national computer database and discovered Robinson was wanted for murder.

Newcastle police travelled south to join their Sussex colleagues in the arrest on Friday, February 13.

Research and intelligence on Robinson's home and movements were made before they pounced. Robinson was leaving his Newhaven flat and getting into his car on his way to work at 6.30pm when police moved.

One who was there at the time said: "There was no real struggle and it looked like there was a sense of relief on his face.

"He knew he had been living on borrowed time. He looked like a man who suddenly realised his past had finally caught up with him.

"We felt sorry for his girlfriend. She thought she had found the right man to spend the rest of her life with."

After Robinson's arrest one of Sara's friends wrote to detectives thanking them for their dedication in bringing him to justice.

The letter said: "Sara was a kind, happy, bubbly person who touched the lives of everyone she met.

"It is a shame you never had the opportunity to meet Sara in person, then you would have known first-hand just how worthwhile this fight has been and how the person who you were fighting for was more than worth the effort."