DNA LEADS TO ARREST OF ST ALBANS RAPIST ANTHONY HART
DNA monitoring has led to a man, who raped his victim in St Albans nearly ten years ago, being jailed.Anthony Hart, 43, previously a St Albans motorbike instructor who now lives in Devon, was found guilty at Cambridge Crown Court of raping the London woman.
On Tuesday, June 22, 1996, the then 22-year-old woman was attacked from behind as she walked past the Salvation Army building in Camp Road at 12.30am on her way home from the Cross Keys pub in Chequer Street.
She was forced down the driveway at the side of the building and raped.
After her ordeal the man ordered her to lie face down on the ground and fled.
Despite a huge police operation to find the attacker, the case remained unsolved.
But when Hart committed a drink driving offence in Devon last year, his DNA was flagged up as an instant match to that taken from the crime scene in 1996.
It became the first case to be taken forward by Hertfordshire Constabulary's newly-formed Cold Case Review Unit, launched to re-examine evidence of unsolved crimes.
Last week's verdict was achieved without the woman being required to give evidence, an important part of the team's work which aims not to 're-victimise' victims.
Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Miller, who leads on crime investigation for the Constabulary, said: 'The Cold Case Review Unit aims to crackdown on previously undetected serious crime and, with this investigation sends out a clear message to offenders that their past could catch up with them.' Hart is due to be sentenced on August 6.
