Life for rape of pensioner

A rapist who attacked a 78-year-old widow after breaking into her home on New Year's Day has been jailed for life.

Leon Joseph Daly twice threatened to kill his victim during the attack, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Judge Alistair McCreath said a life sentence for Daly was necessary in order to protect vulnerable women.

The 36-year-old, from The Centreway, Yardley Wood, Birmingham, had admitted rape after being linked to the crime by DNA evidence.

Daly was "cool-headed" during the attack

Daly was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

The court heard that the victim, from the Kings Heath area of Birmingham, was attacked in the early hours of 1 January this year.

Daly had acted "cool-headed" during the attack, said the judge.

"What you did was plainly an offence of the very greatest gravity, you raped a woman of 78-years of age in her own home in the middle of the night."

The court heard that Daly told the terrified woman: "Keep quiet, do want me to kill you?"

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Sally Bourner, of West Midlands Police, said: "We take no pleasure in the sentence.

"But what we do take is guarded satisfaction that an offender has been brought to justice for a despicable act."