A rapist jailed this week for a terrifying sex attack on a woman is on a waiting list for a new heart.

Despite deteriorating heart problems since 2000, Austin Hurley, 44, tried to rape a woman in August 2007, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

NHS rules on the ethics of organ transplants state: "Every patient has to be treated in a fair and unbiased way based on the patient's need."

It means married pervert Hurley, despite his despicable crimes, will get a transplant if a match is found, unless he declines.

Hurley was jailed indefinitely this week.

He will serve a minimum of four-and-a-half years before he is considered for parole.

He was sentenced in his absence after denying attempted rape at a trial in February. His lawyer said he was unfit to attend court because of his serious heart condition.

Hurley was jailed in Dublin for seven years for rape in 1983, jailed for five years for indecency in 1989, also in Dublin, and jailed at Maidstone Crown Court in 1997 for attempted rape.

At this week's hearing, Judge Charles Macdonald QC heard that Hurley, formerly of Beckenham Drive, Maidstone, now living in Rochester, was working as a part-time barman at the Bearsted and Thurnham Club, when he became friendly with the victim. He has since left the club.

Hurley said he was hosting a gathering and offered the victim £500 if she dressed attractively. She accepted.

One night in August 2007, after changing at her home, Hurley pushed her onto a mattress and molested her, warning: "If you want to see the light of day tomorrow, you had better do as I say. Go on, scream."

He then tried to force her to commit a sex act.

Another woman who gave evidence at the February trial said that in 2003 Hurley had pushed her into a bedroom and tried to molest her, threatening to fetch her young son to watch.

At the culmination of the February trial, Hurley's lawyers had asked for bail, so Hurley could attend the first appointment for a possible heart transplant.

Judge Macdonald refused, saying Hurley could obtain a fresh appointment in custody.

Tanya Robinson, for Hurley, said he may not survive the sentence, but judge Macdonald retorted: "That really depends on the transplant.

"I was surprised to discover that a serial rapist is on a transplant list. I was informed it was completely irrelevant. Potentially, one is looking at a cured man with life expectancy."

Miss Robinson said Hurley, who is now on the sex offenders register for life, was seriously considering whether a heart transplant would be appropriate if offered one.

When passing sentence, the judge noted that Hurley was extremely ill when he committed the latest offence and had been having hospital treatment.

"After medical treatment, he will still be a risk to the public," he said.

The judge had seen reports which concluded that sex offender treatment had not deterred Hurley.

"This was a planned offence, preying on a vulnerable person," he said. "There was an element of detention and a sustained attack.

"The conclusion is the medical condition does not reduce the risk he will re-offend. Nor does it offer personal mitigation. I accept his life expectancy will be reduced."

Guidelines drawn up by an NHS advisory body on the rules around heart transplants state that a patient's marital, housing and employment status will be considered, alongside whether they smoke or have history of drug or alcohol abuse.

But there is no mention of considering a patient's criminal background.