Double-Rapist Trapped By DNA 20 Years On

A double rapist trapped by DNA twenty years after two copycat rapes in the stairwells of different blocks of flats has been jailed for 11 years.

Tragically his second victim – traumatised for years after the attack – did not see justice done, having killed herself before the predator was captured.

Andrew Thompson, 43, of Othello Court, Old Hospital Close, Balham, was eventually hunted down after giving a DNA sample to police for a minor drug offence in 2001.

Thompson (pictured) pleaded guilty to raping a 36 year-old woman in Clapham on June 23, 1989 and 35 year-old in Battersea on November 24, later that year.

The Metropolitan Police’s Sapphire Cold Case team used upgraded DNA samples recovered from the victims immediately after the attacks and identified Thompson when the case files were reopened.

In the first attack, at a block of flats where the victim lived with her young daughter, Thompson approached her in the stairwell at 11.45pm, and backed off when she resisted, but pursued her up several flights of steps and raped her.

The second victim was raped in the stairwell of her friend’s block during a nightime visit.

Like the first rape victim she suffered emotional breakdowns and committed suicide eleven years later.

He was arrested on May 18, last year and denied both offences, but admitted the crimes four days before his trial was scheduled to begin at Southwark Crown Court.

Detective Constable Alyson Suddick, who led the cold case investigation, said: “Thompson preyed on two complete strangers, both of whom suffered severe psychological trauma as a result of their experiences.

“Thanks to technological advances since 1989 we have been able to bring him to justice, and it is only right that this vicious predator should face the consequences of his actions.”