Man jailed for raping babysitter

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A Shropshire man who raped a babysitter in Greater Manchester 16 years ago has been jailed at Manchester Crown Court.

Andrew Watkins, 41, of Glovers Way, Shawbirch, Telford, admitted rape and two counts of indecent assault in May.

He was jailed for eight years in total - six for the rape and two years for each assault, one to run concurrently and the other to run consecutively.

Watkins, who was traced through new DNA techniques, was described by police as violent and dangerous.

He was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely.

DNA profile

The 25-year-old victim had been babysitting for a relative in March 1991 and was walking along Church Road in Astley afterwards when she was attacked.

Police officers reviewed the case last year and evidence recovered from the victim's clothes was re-analysed and a partial DNA profile was obtained.

It was loaded onto the national DNA database which found a match with Watkins.

I feel confident that the streets are a safer a place with Watkins behind bars Det Insp Andy Meeks from the Cold Case Review Unit <a class="" href="either url here">4,000 cases to be reviewed</a>

Further research revealed that in 1991 he had been living within a mile of the scene of the attack.

Det Insp Andy Meeks from the Cold Case Review Unit, who described Watkins as a "violent, dangerous individual", said that re-examining old cases helped prevent future crimes.

"When the Cold Case Review Unit begins to look at a case we do so in the hope of convicting a criminal of the past, but these people often have the potential to commit crimes in the future as well," he said.

"I feel confident that the streets are a safer a place with Watkins behind bars."

A spokesperson for the Forensic Science Service (FSS) added: "Huge advances in DNA technology by the FSS in the 17 years since he committed this offence have made it possible to reopen cold cases and catch people who really must have thought they had got away with their crimes."