BEDFORDSHIRE MAN JAILED FOR ATTEMPTED ELDER RAPE IN 2000
A man aged 81 from Bedfordshire has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to an attempted rape on a 92-year-old woman in her home back in 2000.Cyril Hewitt, then 70 years old at the time of the assault, was identified after DNA evidence was re-examined during a cold case review.
The attack took place at the woman's flat in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, on January 7, 2000.
Hewitt’s previous criminal record includes a sexual offense conviction from 1946, and the re-analysis of DNA left at the scene linked him to the crime, especially after investigators suspected the attacker was familiar with the victim's flat.
At the initial stages of the investigation, no DNA sample was requested from Hewitt, as the victim was unable to identify her attacker.
In his sentencing at Luton Crown Court, defense lawyers pointed to his health issues, including heart problems, poor vision, and his age, as mitigating circumstances.
The court also ordered Hewitt to comply with lifetime registration as a sex offender as part of his sentence.
