Salesman jailed for teen sex attacks in 2002

Alec Housden was jailed at St Albans Crown Court

A man who carried out a series of sexual assaults on two teenage girls more than 20 years ago has been jailed for 16 years.

Alec Housden lay in wait in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, in 2002, before grabbing them from behind and dragging them into woodland.

The 60-year-old of Kingsbury Gardens, Dunstable, in Bedfordshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnap and two counts of indecent assault at St Albans Crown Court.

Housden, who worked as a travelling salesman, was identified by DNA samples after a police cold case review in June 2022.

At sentencing, Judge Francis Sheridan said his victims were left "terrified and frozen with fear".

Alec Housden initially denied the charges at St Albans Crown Court, but later changed his pleas

The court heard that after the attacks, Housden told the girls not to move or he would come back and attack them again.

In 2017, he was arrested for a domestic offence, and in April 2023, was arrested over the incidents in 2002.

When police examined his computer they found disturbing images depicting adult women dressed as schoolgirls in woodland settings.

The defendant initially denied the charges but later changed his pleas.

Housden kidnapped a 16-year-old off Piggottshill Lane, Harpenden, on 7 April 2002 and indecently assaulted her.

He also pleaded guilty to kidnapping and indecently assaulting a 17-year-old girl at the same location on 19 June 2002

Judge Sheridan said: "You pleaded guilty because the evidence against you was overwhelming.

"DNA, if you leave it behind, will follow you."

'Black cloud'

In an impact statement, one of the victims said his actions "left a lasting scar, a dark matter, a tumour in the deepest recesses of my mind, that no matter how much I tried to move on, it remains and always will".

Another said: "I would love to say it has had no effect on me at all but deep down it is always there and continues to affect me to this day, like a black cloud hanging over me."

Prosecutor Isobel Delamere said the defendant specifically targeted vulnerable victims and "lay in wait for passing young ladies".

She said he posed a threat of committing further offences in the future.

Mr Sean Minihan, defending, said since the offences Housden had led a worthy life and tried to be a good father and step-father.