NORTH LONDON MAN SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS FOR RAPING AU PAIR OVER 30 YEARS AFTER CRIME
A man who raped a young au pair in a north London park over 30 years ago has been jailed.Billy Roy Day, 50, from Uxbridge, attacked his victim, who was 19 at the time, as she walked through Shirehall Lane Park in Hendon in December 1984.The woman, who had only been living in the capital for six weeks before the assault, was walking to meet a friend at the cinema when Day threatened her, claiming he had a knife.Day, of Cumbrian Way, raped his victim and sexually assaulted her in the park at around 7.30pm in the evening, Southwark Crown Court heard.No significant leads were found at the time and the victim returned to her home country soon after the attack.
In 1998, samples taken from the victim and her clothing were re-examined and a DNA profile of the suspect was loaded onto the police database, but no match was found at the time.In 2013, Day’s DNA was uploaded onto the DNA database and was a match to forensic samples taken from the victim and her clothing at the time of the offence.It was found to be a 1:1 billion match for Day, who lived very close to the park at the time of the attack and matched the description of the suspect.The case was reinvestigated by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command’s Complex Case Team, who with the assistance of Europol, tracked down the victim and flew to her home country to inform her of the development.As part of the re-investigation the victim’s clothing was subjected to entirely fresh forensic testing and again Day’s DNA profile of Day was discovered.He was today jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of one count of rape and two other sexual offences in July.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Gary Farrelly of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: “Day’s sentence reflects the severity of the crime he committed – one he thought he had got away with all those years ago.”“It was highly rewarding to be able to locate the victim and tell her that after all these years the man that had so brutally attacked her had been identified and arrested.
I hope she now takes some comfort in the fact he will spend a considerable time in prison.“I hope that this case gives other victims of rape and sexual offences the confidence to report crime to the police so that we can investigate, and demonstrates that we are committed to bringing offenders to justice, whatever the passage of time.”“I would like to take this opportunity to again thank police colleagues overseas, who provided immense support to the victim and the overall investigation.”
