DNA traps rapist after decade

DNA traps rapist after decade

The court heard the girl had never recovered from her ordeal

A rapist who attacked a teenage exchange student 10 years ago has finally been jailed at Cardiff Crown Court after being trapped by DNA.

John Hughes, 31, pounced on the 17-year-old Italian girl as she walked home alone after a night out with friends in 1993.

She returned home to Italy after police failed to catch her attacker. Hughes escaped justice for a decade living as a respectable family man.

But last year Hughes became involved in another police investigation and voluntarily gave a DNA sample. It was matched to DNA taken from the scene of the rape attack in a supermarket car park in Thornhill, Cardiff.

He was jailed for eight years for the sex attack.

The person responsible has ruined my life

Rape victim

The court heard that Hughes was a respectable married man with two young children by the time police finally caught up with him.

Prosecutor Keith Thomas said the girl had been spending a week in Britain to improve her English when she was attacked.

Mr Thomas said: "She was walking through the supermarket car park when she heard footsteps behind her. Hughes came out of the bushes from behind, put his hand over her mouth and said: "Don't shout or I'll kill you."

After the attack Hughes put a jumper over the girl's face and escaped.

The court heard that the girl, now 27 and living in Italy, had never recovered from her ordeal.

Charges admitted

She said in a statement: "I have had enormous trouble from these events. The crimes committed against me are amongst the most horrendous ones. The person responsible has ruined my life and affected the lives of people who love me."

Self-employed painter and decorator Hughes, from Roath, Cardiff, admitted causing actual bodily harm, rape and a serious sexual assault.

David Leathley, defending, said Hughes was high on a cocktail of drink and drugs at the time.

He said: "These offences were committed during a time when he was not himself. He was a bachelor mixing with the wrong sorts.

'Deep shame'

"He is now a broken and ashamed man as a result of coming to terms with these events. He is a man who can no longer provide for a loving wife and his two children.

He feels a deep-rooted sense of shame."

The court heard Hughes's wife was standing by him.

Judge Roderick Denyer QC told Hughes: "You have admitted a most savage sexual assault on a woman aged 17 who came to this country as a visitor."

Hughes was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.