67-year-old rapist brought to justice after more than 40 years

A 67-year-old man has finally been brought to justice for a 40-year-old rape case, and has been handed a 12-year extended sentence at Newport Crown Court, South Wales. He had committed the crime in Cardiff in 1980.

Roland Long was identified after almost 40 years by the South Wales Police with the help of new DNA technology. Apart from the rape case, he was previously put behind bars in 2012 for taking indecent images of children.

"In 1980, a woman who had recently moved to the Cardiff area got off a bus and whilst on her way home, Roland Long followed her and violently raped her," said Detective Inspector Patrick Catto, who was the head of the major crime review unit then. In light of the new evidence, Long admitted to attacking the woman after he had initially approached her to ask if she needed any help.

"There was an extensive investigation at the time, however, a suspect was never identified. But South Wales Police never gives up on serious crime investigations, and evidence was kept," Catto added.

The clothes were reassessed with the help of DNA technology and it was revealed that Long, who hails from Nailsea, North Somerset, was a match and that there was a one billion to one chance of the DNA belonging to anybody else but him. Long had initially denied the rape but pleaded guilty to the crime in January.

"Today's sentence handed out by the judge will hopefully go some way to help the victim of this awful incident, something that she has had to live with daily for the past 42 years," said Detective Catto.

"The fact that the offender has lived his life over this time without thought or care for his victim is unjustifiable," he added.

The woman told BBC News: "I never ever thought that they would get him - I never thought they would. I mean, I was really shocked, obviously. I thought 'you've got to be kidding, after 40 years?"

"He's the one suffering now. Just don't give up hope if it happens - people should report it and don't lose hope," she added.