Locations
Somerset & Elm Street, Roath, Cardiff, Cardiff, CF24
Description
Roland Long, who has been jailed for a historic rape. Picture: South Wales Police
AN elderly Somerset man has been jailed for 12 years for a stranger rape dating back 42 years.
Following an investigation by the South Wales Police Review Unit, Roland Long, 67, was arrested on September 15 2020 at his home in Nailsea.
His arrest was the result of enhanced forensic work into an attack in Elm Street, Cardiff, on August 17 1980.
The victim, then aged 26, had asked Long for directions after becoming lost after returning to the city following a visit to see her mother in Gwent.
She heard footsteps behind her and was pushed to the ground, turned on her back and raped by Long.
Detective Inspector Patrick Catto, former Head of the Major Crime Review Unit, said: 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.
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.
Thanks to the application of advanced DNA technology, Roland Long was identified as the person responsible and has now been brought to justice.
Scientists from the Joint Scientific Investigation Unit (JSIU) conducted a review of the original case papers and provided specialist advice to the Review Unit, including how advancements in science and technology could assist the investigation.
Items of clothing were reassessed, which revealed Long to be a match, with an almost billion-to-one chance of the DNA belonging to anybody else.
Detective Superintendent Mathew Lewis, head of the JSIU, said: The JSIU works closely with our investigative teams, with a team of highly skilled and dedicated members of staff who look to deliver justice through science. In this case, that is exactly what has happened.
By utilising forensic advancements, we were able to work with the Review Unit to bring a perpetrator to justice 42 years after committing the crime.
DI Patrick Catto added: The 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.
The fact that the offender has lived his life over this time without thought or care for his victim is unjustifiable.
After all these years, the victim can now finally begin to rebuild her life safe in the knowledge that Roland Long is behind bars and has been brought to justice.
The officers involved in this case have shown professionalism, determination and tenacity in bringing to justice those who cause the most harm within our communities, regardless of the passage of time.
Help and support is available for all victims of sexual violence and we encourage any victims; no matter how long ago the offence happened, to come forward.