THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE MAN WHO RAPED A TEENAGE GIRL AND EVADED JUSTICE FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS
A man from South Yorkshire evaded justice for nearly thirty years after assaulting a teenage girl in 1981.At the age of 17, Christopher Sykes attacked a 16-year-old girl near his residence in Canklow, Rotherham, around 10:30 pm on October 19 of that year.
The case remained unsolved until 2009, when DNA evidence gathered from the crime scene was matched to samples from another case.
After the initial assault, Sykes committed two more attacks on women in Rotherham in 1987, which led to a three-year prison term following convictions for both offences, as reported in Sheffield Crown Court records.
When he was resentenced in 2010, it was noted by Dermot Hughes that Sykes had rebuilt his life in Hertfordshire after being released from prison in 1990.
He had a long-term partner and an 11-year-old daughter, and he maintained a clean record since that time.
Judge Simon Lawler sentenced him to eight and a half years behind bars, citing multiple aggravating factors, especially the subsequent assaults.
Prosecutor Sarah Wright told the court that the teenage victim had suffered emotional harm for over thirty years due to the attack.
She also disclosed that police mishandled her case initially, undermining her credibility and causing her to feel shameful and hopeless.
The police later issued an apology, acknowledging their detrimental treatment of her.
When Sykes was detained in 2009, he denied the charges, claiming the girl had consented to the sexual encounter, but changed his plea to guilty a day before the trial began.
The court heard that the assault happened as the girl was walking home from a night out with friends and her ex-boyfriend, near the Brinsworth area.
Wright explained that he approached her, followed her, then grabbed her from behind, dragging her into overgrown grass and attacking her.
Despite her attempts to resist and her screams, he ignored her pleas.
After the assault, Sykes threatened her not to tell anyone, causing her to avoid eye contact as he left.
She subsequently hitchhiked and was taken home by two men in a nearby car, who reported that she looked distraught and disheveled.
The victim expressed her gratitude to the South Yorkshire Police cold case team for discovering DNA evidence that ultimately led to Sykes’s conviction.
She described the DNA breakthrough as miraculous and said that feeling protected and justified was overwhelming.
During sentencing, Judge Lawler recognized that police procedures had improved since the 1980s and acknowledged the deep trauma suffered by the victim, describing the impact as devastating and comparable to a nightmare for many women.
