A 61-YEAR-OLD man has today been jailed for nine years after he was found guilty of raping a girl in 1980.
Norman Stanley, 61, of Great Billington, Bedfordshire, was sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of raping a 17-year-old girl on April 25, 1980, following a five day trial.
She was approached from behind by two men in Micklefield Road, High Wycombe, as she was walking home from a night out.
She was dragged to a nearby railway embankment, where she was raped by two men.
The second offender in the case, Geoffrey Stoneham, aged 63, from Alamein Road, Swanscombe, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment at Aylesbury Crown Court on 19 October 2009, after pleading guilty to the offence.
The case was brought to court by the Major Crime Review Team (MCRT), a dedicated team set up to look at unsolved serious crimes.
Det Supt Barry Halliday, Head of the MCRT, hailed the result and paid tribute to the “good, old-fashioned” police work which securred the conviction.
He said: “I am pleased with today’s sentence, which reflects the seriousness of the offence, and the fact Stanley evaded justice for so long for this offence.
“Stanley’s conviction was a result of good, old-fashioned detective work by the dedicated and highly experienced officers on the Major Crime Review Team.
“There was no forensic evidence available to link Stanley to this offence, so officers relied on their investigative skills to track Stoneham’s associates at the time, find Stanley’s name in connection with the incident, then trace the correct Norman Stanley.
“Although a lot of historic cases do rely on new forensic evidence coming to light as a result of technological advances, the conviction of Stanley can be placed solely on experienced officers dedicated to solving historic crimes.
“This result shows that Thames Valley Police remain committed to the careful review and re-investigation of unsolved historic serious sexual assault and homicide cases.
“Offenders who think they have got away with a crime years, or even decades later, should be aware the MCRT will be doing our utmost to bring them to justice.”
He added that the unit were committed to carrying on their investigations into historical crimes to bring “closure and justice for victims and surviving family members”.
He added: “Our communities can have confidence that we examine all such unsolved crimes and this latest case is one of a significant number of cases being developed.”
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