Locations
Wessex Court, Sunny Bank, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST6
Description
A DNA breakthrough has resulted in a prison sentence for a man who thought he had escaped justice for raping a teenage girl almost 20 years ago.
The incident happened on 7 October 2006, when Kennedy Jimmy, then 25, met the victim and her friend in a supermarket car park in Shefford.
He arrived in a car driven by a friend and waited until the others went inside the shop before pulling the victim into the back of the car and raping her.
She managed to escape and ran to a nearby pub, where her friend called the police.
Although detectives launched an investigation and carried out extensive lines of enquiry at the time, Jimmy – known to the victim only as ‘Kenny’ – could not be identified.
As part of Operation Painter, a specialist review of historic rape and sexual assault cases by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, a forensic analysis revealed a DNA match, which led to his arrest in November 2022.
Jimmy, now 44, of Wessex Court, Sunny Bank, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was convicted of rape after a five-day trial at Luton Crown Court in October last year and was sentenced today (Friday) to six years with a life-long restraining order.
Detective Constable Rhian Batterham-Jones said:
“This conviction demonstrates that time is no barrier to justice. Jimmy thought he had escaped accountability, but advances in forensic science and the determination of our team proved otherwise.
“I want to commend the victim for her incredible courage in coming forward and reliving such a traumatic experience two decades later.
“I hope this gives other victims the courage to come forward to report any sexual offences, no matter how long ago the crime took place. You will be believed and supported, and justice can be done.”