Across the UK, so few rape cases actually lead to a court case, but one police team is determined to get justice for the thousands of unsolved sex crimes over the past half-century. Operation Painter, run by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, began in 2016 by sifting through over 5,400 unsolved sexual assault and rape cases. Now, although there have only been ten successful convictions out of this work, the operation has been given a new lease of life.
After the alleys, underpasses, and isolated spaces where people are at risk of sexual assault were discovered in the 1970s and 1980s, women started to self-organise as a protection against these crimes. However, even with advances in forensic science, many assaults were not solved and the issues of sexual assault are more extensive, with many underfunded agencies taking years to prosecute.
Advances in forensic science have allowed the police to bring offenders to justice, with DNA samples collected from original investigations outsourced for analysis. The work has already led to ten cases, nine of which gained convictions. Among these was the conviction and imprisonment of Zahid Majeed, a taxi driver in his fifties from Luton, who received thirteen years for rape and three for kidnapping in 2021.
The challenges of compiling a rape case are immense, and cases can take years to come to court, while funding for such operations is limited. However, the victims of sex crimes deserve to have their cases heard and the perpetrators punished. Meanwhile, the work of Operation Painter in reopening cold cases and working towards the conviction of perpetrators is a testament to the dedication of the police force.
Viewers can watch Cold Case Investigators: Solving Britain’s Sex Crimes on BBC Two, with the first part aired on 20 May and the second on the 21 May
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