Rapist jailed 20 years after rape caught by DNA

The girl, who was just 13 at the time of the attack, was subjected to a hate campaign while offender Harry Davey enjoyed his freedom.

Publican Davey, 65, had twice denied raping the girl at his farm in Gain Lane, Bradford, in 1992 and, even in April last year when he was re-arrested, he refuted the findings that identified him as the perpetrator.

He was finally brought to justice after West Yorkshire Police conducted a cold case review and has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.

Davey was also placed on the sexual offenders register and will be on licence when released.

Tests had proved inconclusive at the time and Davey, of Bowling Back Lane in Bradford, was released without charge but after going through the most traumatic experience of her life, the young girl was then spat at in the street and physically attacked after word had got round about the assault.

Leeds Crown Court heard the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had gone to Davey’s land in Bradford, to help a family friend feed pigs and was allowed to ride horses there, as were other girls.

Sophie Drake, prosecuting, said the victim was taken into the defendant’s house thinking his wife was at home.

They were in the living room when he grabbed her and committed the crime.

Miss Drake said: “She bumped into a friend afterwards and told her what had happened. Despite being sworn to secrecy her friend told her mother.”

Word got back to the victim’s mother and Davey was arrested and interviewed, denying all of the charges.

Forensic testing proved inconclusive and he was released without charge.

A victim impact statement read to the court detailed the horrors that the young girl was subjected to including being slapped by the defendant’s then wife and being attacked by other girls who also used Davey’s horses.

She was also bullied at school and had to leave home while her own mother did not believe her, the court heard.

Police re-opened the cold case last year and, using advances in forensic technology, Davey was arrested again.

He denied any sexual contact but finally admitted the crime when he appeared before a judge.

Mitigating, Richard Gioserano said Davey had pleaded guilty and spared his victim the trauma of having to come to court.

Sentencing Davey, Recorder Bernard Gateshill said: “Your young victim spent 20 years thinking that you had got away with raping her.

“You have clearly ruined her life. To this day she is mentally scarred by the experience that you inflicted upon her.

“The reality is you have escaped justice for 20 years and your victim has had to wait 20 years for an acknowledgement that you wronged her.

“I don’t propose to speculate why you chose to abuse this girl but you clearly formed the view that she would not complain. However, no doubt to your surprise, she did complain.”

After the case, Detective Inspector Howard Atkin, of West Yorkshire Police’s major investigation review team, said: “Harry Davey is a dangerous individual who in 1992 took advantage of a position of trust to subject his 13-year-old victim to a serious sexual assault.

“Until now he probably thought he had evaded punishment for these crimes. This was wrong.

“Determined and tireless work by detectives in partnership with the Forensic Science Service has meant that he has finally been brought to justice.

“The destructive impact of his offending upon the victim simply cannot be imagined, and she has had to live with this for a very long time.

“I would like to pay tribute to the victim and her family in this case who have shown great courage and resolve and have supported the prosecution throughout.

Justice, release and closure have finally been delivered to them.

“This conviction shows once again that there is no hiding place for criminals. Our message is clear - there is no time limit on justice,” he said.

Scientific advances revealing new evidence have allowed more cases to be reopened.