MAN CONVICTED OF 1980 RAPE CASE
A man aged 56 has been convicted of raping a medical student over 26 years after the assault occurred.Thomas Ian Stewart, who hails from Weston-super-Mare, was taken into custody in 2005 following an investigation by the Cold Case Team of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary.
The assault took place in June 1980 when the victim, then 21 years old and a medical student, was returning home after an evening out in Cotham, Bristol.
On Wednesday, Stewart received a 10-year prison sentence at Bristol Crown Court.
Following the verdict, it was revealed to the jury that Stewart had previously been convicted of murder in 1993.
He was handed a life sentence at Reading Crown Court after being found guilty of killing a stranger with a stabbing attack at the town’s railway station.
Stewart was released from prison in July 2005 and was subsequently re-arrested a month later for the rape incident.
In sentencing Stewart, who resides on Southcote Road, Reading, Judge Carol Hagen described the assault as having a "quite devastating" impact on the victim.
"The psychological harm inflicted is substantial," she noted.
"I believe the threat Stewart posed remains significant and ongoing." Stewart is now back in prison, serving not only his lifetime sentence but also the sentence handed down on Wednesday.
The woman, who was alone at the time of the attack, was seized from behind when Stewart held a knife against her throat.
She reflected: "I was only 20 at the time of the rape.
I was just beginning to understand myself." "Since then, I have not engaged in any relationships, nor have I found happiness or hope.
I continue to survive simply because I must."
