Man jailed after DNA evidence links him to 40-year-old rape

A woman who was raped on a Cardiff street in 1980 has seen her attacker brought to justice over 40 years later due to advancements in DNA testing.

Roland Long, 67, attacked the woman in August 1980 as she was walking on Partridge Road late at night. He ran away after raping her and she went to a nearby house for help. Although the crime was investigated immediately, forensic techniques available at the time were unable to obtain any DNA results.

In 2019, South Wales Police conducted a review of the case and improvements in forensic analysis meant that a DNA profile of the suspect could be obtained from the exhibits.

Kelly Huggins of the CPS said: "Roland Long carried out a horrific crime which must have been terrifying for the victim, but the developments in DNA profiling allowed the CPS to build a case decades later and bring this sexual predator to Court."

Sentence took place at Newport Crown Court on 15 March 2022 where Long was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment with a two-year extended licence, and to register as a sex offender for life.