A convicted rapist living at a controversial probation hostel in York launched a brutal sex attack on a woman in a city bar.

Christopher Ernest Scott is today starting a life sentence for the assault. He will serve a minimum of five years, after Judge Paul Hoffman told him: "I believe you are likely to remain a very real danger to women in the indefinite future."

Scott's sentence will be small comfort to his victim. And it will be small comfort to residents living near the Southview probation hostel in Boroughbridge Road, where the rapist was staying at the time of the attack.

The hostel is close to Poppleton Road Primary School. Locals have long feared they and their children are being exposed to risk from hostel residents - especially after new legislation in 2002 meant it could be used to house child sex offenders, rapists or murderers.

In 2003 The Press revealed that paedophile George Ormond, who had been jailed for child sex offences, was staying there.

And in 2004, sex offender Richard Freshwater was caught talking to local children while living at the hostel - despite a court order banning him from making such contact.

This latest incident is bound to raise fresh questions.

We have no wish to deny ex-offenders the chance of rehabilitation. But clearly there are special concerns in relation to people convicted of sexual or violent crimes as to when they are safe to be reintroduced into the community.

Cases like this make us wonder if it is time that we looked again at the whole way we as a society approach the issue.

The rights of violent offenders to be rehabilitated must be balanced against the rights of ordinary, law-abiding citizens to live in their own homes and go about their lives in safety.