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A 55-year-old man, Richard Downey, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a sexual assault committed nearly three decades ago against a 13-year-old girl. The incident took place on 23 September 1997, when the teenager was walking home in her school uniform along a footpath near Wyllie in Caerphilly county. Authorities were able to solve the case thanks to a significant breakthrough involving DNA evidence.
During proceedings at Newport Crown Court, it was revealed that the victim had separated from two friends after leaving a library and chose a shortcut home. Downey, concealing his identity by pulling his T-shirt over his head and armed with a screwdriver, approached her from behind, forced her to the ground, and sexually assaulted her. When she attempted to escape, he restrained her again by covering her mouth until the sound of an approaching car caused him to flee. The victim reported the attack to police, and although semen was recovered from her shoe, no match was found in the DNA database at the time.
The case was reopened after Downey provided a DNA sample in February 2022 linked to an unrelated investigation involving a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl, which did not result in charges. This sample matched the DNA from the 1997 case, leading to his arrest. Downey was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and an act of indecency with a child after a trial in December. Judge Daniel Williams, while sentencing him, remarked, “You must have been lying in wait to find your victim… who you intended to terrorise,” highlighting the premeditated nature of the attack.
In a statement read in court, the victim described the lasting impact of the assault, recalling the “immeasurable” fear she experienced and the distinct smell of her attacker’s hands when he covered her mouth to silence her screams. She shared how she later ran to a main road, seeking help from a passing motorist, and how the trauma has since affected her ability to walk alone or use the footpath where the attack happened. Reflecting on her younger self during a recorded interview from 1997, she expressed that the assault took away something irreplaceable. She concluded with relief that justice has finally been served. After the sentencing, Catherine Miles from the Crown Prosecution Service voiced hope that the verdict would bring some comfort to the victim, emphasizing how DNA evidence had ultimately proven Downey’s guilt
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