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Justice for victim 12 years on
New DNA evidence catches river sex attacker after detectives
let him walk free
A VICIOUS sex attacker from Covent Garden was finally put behind bars on Monday – 12 years after bungling police let him go.
An Old Bailey judge criticised detectives who decided to take no action against the prime suspect after interviewing him in 1995.
Judge Timothy Pontius said he was ‘astounded’ that Alan Decapet, the would-be killer of a woman priest, was not charged.
The court heard that, despite matching the description and having a telltale tattoo on his stomach, Decapet was not arrested.
He was quizzed by officers five months after the 48-year-old woman was stabbed and raped on the Thames towpath in Twickenham in September, 1994.
Decapet, 40, a jobless drifter with 22 criminal convictions, finally confessed last year when other detectives from a ‘cold case’ inquiry team linked him to the attack through DNA which was previously not available.
The genetic material was taken last year after he was arrested for flashing in Maida Vale.
Judge Pontius jailed him for 14 years when he admitted charges of attempted murder and rape of the victim as she took a stroll along the riverbank.
She was rescued from near-certain death by brave bar steward, 57-year-old Clive Burton, who was alerted by her screams.
Decapet, of Kemble Street, Covent Garden, used a hunting knife to slash the woman’s mouth and stab her in the stomach.
After ripping off her clothing and repeatedly raping her, he made her wear a pair of his green shorts.
Prosecutor Lisa Wilding said: “It was a brutal and savage attack. The commendable actions of Mr Burton saved her life.”
The barman was repairing his cabin cruiser on Eel Pie Island when he heard the cries. He climbed aboard his dingy and rowed across the Thames to save her.
He witnessed the stabbing and comforted the badly bleeding victim until help arrived.
Miss Wilding said Decapet’s ‘dirty and scruffy’ appearance, crooked and chipped teeth, six foot plus height, brown ‘staring’ eyes, tattoos of a ladybird on his arm and ‘Made in London’ on his navel, were all recorded by the woman and given to detectives, together with a good e-fit likeness.
But when Decapet was traced they decided there was insufficient evidence against him.
“I find it astounding that this investigation was not pursued,” said Judge Pontius.
The victim, who was in court with her husband, said she had been left “violated and contaminated” by the attack and even thought: “It may have been better if I had died.” But now she has finally got her life together and ‘forgiven’ Decapet.
He was arrested when his DNA was taken last year following the indecent exposure in which he was naked and flashing at a woman in west London.
Judge Pontius, who also praised Mr Burton, said it was ‘unfortunate in the extreme’ that in 1995, with so many pointers, no action was taken against Decapet. |
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