TOTTENHAM MAN JAILED FOR COLD CASE SEXUAL ASSAULT
A man responsible for a brutal sexual assault on an elderly woman 17 years prior has received a 13-year prison sentence after his case was reopened by authorities.Fredrick Mills, also known as Nixon, aged 37 and without a fixed address, appeared at Southwark Crown Court where he pleaded guilty on November 2 to two counts of indecent assault and one count of burglary.
The victim, a 76-year-old woman who was partly deaf, blind, and unable to speak English, died before Mills could face trial.
The incident took place in Tottenham shortly before 1pm when Mills, then aged 20, broke into her residence and locked the front door behind him.
He forcibly pushed her onto the floor and subjected her to a violent sexual assault, punching her multiple times.
The attack lasted about an hour until her relatives returned home, at which point Mills escaped through the back door and into a nearby park via a garden.
Initially, Mills could not be identified following the assault on January 22, 1993.
In 2007, the Metropolitan Police's Sapphire Cold Case team reopened the case, leading to his eventual arrest.
DC Alyson Suddick, who led the investigation, stated: "While it is unfortunate the victim did not live to see her attacker brought to justice, we hope this case offers some closure to her loved ones.
Thanks to technological advances since 1993, particularly the work of the Forensic Science Service, we were able to identify a dangerous individual.
Our team remains dedicated to solving and pursuing perpetrators of such savage crimes." The police conducted an extensive investigation, including forensic sampling and releasing a suspect image to generate public awareness.
Several potential suspects were detained but not charged, leading to the case being temporarily closed.
In 2007, investigators reopened the case and obtained a higher-quality DNA profile from a specimen found on the victim's nightgown.
This profile was matched to Mills when uploaded to the national DNA database.
On September 24, 2007, Mills, who was then incarcerated at HMP Wandsworth for unrelated offences, was arrested on suspicion of the 1993 assault.
Although he initially denied involvement, Mills pleaded guilty to the charges approximately a week before his trial was scheduled for November 9.
He was sentenced today to seven years for the sexual assaults and a six-year sentence for the burglary, to be served consecutively.
