It took seventeen years for justice to catch up with an evil sex predator – eventually caged for brutally attacking a 76 year-old woman – thanks to telltale DNA evidence.
Frederick Mills, 37, was sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court for breaking into the vulnerable victim’s Tottenham home in 1993 and carrying out a violent sexual assault.
Mills (pictured) pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault and one of burglary, after the case was reopened by the Metropolitan Police’s Sapphire Cold Case team in 2007.
The victim, now deceased, who was partially blind and deaf and couldn’t speak English, was lying in bed when Mills broke into the property on January 22.
He forced her to the floor and punched her repeatedly as he carried out the sex attack.
Ironically he was nearly captured immediately and was forced to flee via the back door when the victim’s family arrived.
However, they were unable to enter because experienced burglar Mills had locked the front door from the inside and escaped through the back garden and into a nearby park.
Officers conducted an extensive investigation, taking forensic samples and circulating a photo fit as part of a wide-ranging publicity campaign.
Several suspects were identified and arrested, however no charges were brought and the file was eventually closed.
In 2007 an upgraded DNA profile was obtained from a sample found on the victim's nightgown.
When this was entered into the national DNA database, Mills was identified for the first time and on September 24, 2007, he was arrested while serving time in Wandsworth Prison.
DC Alyson Suddick, who led the cold case investigation, said: "While it is unfortunate that the vulnerable victim of this terrible assault did not live to see her attacker face justice, we hope this will bring to an end a traumatic affair for her family.
"Thanks to the advancements in technology seen since 1993, we were able to track down this dangerous individual with the help of the Forensic Science Service, and we will continue to strive to identify and arrest the perpetrators of such savage crimes."
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