A MAN who raped a young au pair more than 30 years ago has been jailed for 11 years.

On Thursday, 28 July at Southwark Crown Court, Billy Roy Day, 50 (04.04.66) of Cumbrian Way, Uxbridge, was found guilty of one count of rape, one court of buggery and one count of indecent assault on a 19-year old woman on 7 December 1984, in Shirehall Lane Park in Hendon.

He was sentenced at the same court today, Friday, 2 September.

Day was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for the rape; 11 years' imprisonment for buggery and 21 months for indecent assault - all sentences to run concurrently. He will also be made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

At the time of the offence the victim, who had only been in London for some six weeks, had made arrangements to go to the cinema with a friend.

At about 19:30hrs, whilst walking through Shirehall Lane Park, she was attacked by a man who intimated he had a knife and raped her.

Despite an investigation to identify and arrest the suspect at the time, no significant leads were found and the victim returned to her native country soon after.

In 1998, the samples taken from the victim and her clothing were re-examined and a DNA profile of the offender obtained and loaded onto the database, but no match was made at that time.

In 2013, Day's DNA was uploaded onto the DNA database and was a match to forensic samples taken from the victim and her clothing at the time of the offence. It was found to be a 1:1 billion match for Day, who lived very close to the park at the time of the offence and matched the description of the suspect.

The case was reinvestigated by detectives from the Met's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command's Complex Case Team, who through the assistance of Europol, were able to track down the victim and flew to her home country to inform her of the development.

Day was interviewed on 20 August 2013, but declined to answer any questions. He was subsequently charged with rape and indecent assault.

As part of the re-investigation the victim's clothing was subjected to entirely fresh forensic testing and again the DNA profile of Day was found.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Gary Farrelly of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "Day's sentence reflects the severity of the crime he committed - one he thought he had got away with all those years ago.

"It was highly rewarding to be able to locate the victim and tell her that after all these years the man that had so brutally attacked her had been identified and arrested. I hope she now takes some comfort in the fact he will spend a considerable time in prison.

"I hope that this case gives other victims of rape and sexual offences the confidence to report crime to the police so that we can investigate, and demonstrates that we are committed to bringing offenders to justice, whatever the passage of time.

"I would like to take this opportunity to again thank police colleagues overseas, who provided immense support to the victim and the overall investigation."