A man has finally admitted raping a 71-year-old woman in her own home – more than 40 years after the attack happened,
Kenneth Wells, now 63, woke his victim Violet Brown, who lived alone in Wiltshire, by breaking into her house, before coming into the bedroom in the early hours.
Now he has pleaded guilty to raping Ms Brown, before locking her in the house and fleeing November 6, 1980.
Ms Brown, who died in February 1996 before seeing her attacker brought to justice, had to wait until morning before being able to alert neighbours and the police.
Wells was arrested shortly after the incident in Collingbourne Ducis and remained the prime suspect, but police could not gather enough evidence to charge him.
But the file remained with officers was re-examined over the years to hunt for new leads.
Last summer, Wiltshire Police’s major crime team reopened the cold case and using the latest DNA technology, confirmed a direct match between the evidence recovered from the original scene and Wells.
He was arrested at his home address in Salisbury on June 29, 2021, and subsequently charged with burglary, rape and false imprisonment.
Wells appeared at Salisbury Crown Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to all three charges.
Officers said Ms Brown, who died at the age of 87, was at the ‘forefront of all of our minds’ during the investigation, and was never comfortable in her own house after the incident.
Senior investigating officer detective chief inspector Darren Hannant, from the major crime investigation team, said: ‘There is no doubt that this horrendous attack had a lasting impact on Ms Brown, who had to live with the memory of this traumatic incident for the rest of her life.
‘She was never comfortable in her own home after the attack and moved out a short time later. The effect on her quality of life was significant.
‘Despite the fact that she is no longer alive, she has been at the forefront of all of our minds throughout this investigation, and we have been determined to crack this case to finally ensure the man responsible was arrested and convicted.’
Wells was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on Friday, October 1.
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