RAPE victim Tracie Wainwright has "no regrets" about waiving her right to anonymity - saying it is an important step in moving on from her ordeal.

In Wednesday's Argus Tracie, 24, bravely revealed her identity - which is legally protected for all rape victims - and told how burglars were wrecking her hopes of a new life.

She chose to step into the open to help escape the memories of being beaten and raped by Newport sex beast Carl Ball in December 2000.

And yesterday she said: "Now that my name is out I feel much better and I have no regrets.

"I haven't been out much since the article was published but when I do, it would be nice if people think they can come up to me and talk to me about it.

"I am glad I am not having to hide about it anymore."

The mother-of-two said she was tired of the whispering and looks she sometimes draws in public, and that she just wanted people to know the truth.

She said on Wednesday: "I'm a recovering victim and I don't want to hide. I've done nothing wrong.

"I just want to get on with the rest of my life with my children. I don't want to win the lottery, I just want to smile."

In December 2001 Ball was jailed for ten years for raping and indecently assaulting Tracie and a teenager.

In November Tracie moved to her Caldicot home on Moorlands View with her two daughters, Shannon, six, and Kiera, eight months, in November for a fresh start in life. But this week a burglar stole a camcorder, DVDs, games console, jewellery and cash totalling £2,300. Two weeks earlier, £100 in cash had been stolen.

Yesterday she travelled to Newport to try to recover some of her things from a pawn shop but when she arrived she discovered the property, bought in good faith, had been sold. Police arrested a Caldicot man on Monday and charged him with burglary.