DNA match helps convict sex offender after 14 years

Donatas Venclovas was eventually identified as the attacker of three women in Leicester

A sex offender who left three women he attacked with "unresolved pain" for more than 10 years has been jailed after a DNA breakthrough.

Donatas Venclovas managed to evade justice for 14 years after attacking the women within the space of an hour in Leicester on 8 January 2011.

The 34-year-old had left crucial DNA evidence, including in the mouth of one woman who had bit his hand when she fought back, but it did not match anyone in the national police database until he was arrested in London in February.

Venclovas pleaded guilty to attempted rape and three counts of sexual assault, and was jailed for seven years and two months at Leicester Crown Court on Friday.

The attacker was caught on CCTV footage but he was not identified

Police launched an investigation in 2011 after receiving a report of an attempted rape of a woman in her 50s in Rally Park, Tudor Road.

At about 08:50 GMT, the woman was pushed to the ground after she saw him with his hands down his trousers.

The force said the suspect attempted to remove her clothes but she fought back, biting his hand and screaming for help, which alerted a nearby resident and caused Venclovas, of Argyle Road in Canning Town, London, to flee.

Police used a computer-generated image based on the woman's description of Venclovas in a witness appeal, which led to two more victims coming forward.

The two other women said they had been indecently assaulted by a man of a similar description earlier that morning.

Police said the first assault happened in Rutland Street in the city centre, just before 07:40.

The victim was grabbed from behind, around her neck and between her legs.

Minutes later, Venclovas exposed himself to a 74-year-old woman and sexually assaulted her.

A e-fit of the offender, published in 2011

The force said "despite a thorough investigation the suspect was not identified".

Detectives had reviewed hours of CCTV, made public appeals, carried out door-to-door inquiries, and spoken to "key witnesses".

A year later, the same DNA profile was discovered in a separate investigation in London - but the identity of the suspect was still unknown.

Venclovas was arrested on a separate matter in London in February and his DNA was matched to the DNA from the assaults in 2011, and police launched a renewed investigation.

Police tracked down two of the victims and the family of the 74-year-old victim, who had since died.

On 18 August, Venclovas pleaded guilty to one count of attempted rape and three counts of sexual assault.

Following his sentencing, Det Con Shannon Hughes said: "For more than a decade, the women in the case have had to live with knowing the man who attacked them had not been identified and could still be out there.

"The actions of one of the victims on that morning in 2011 has ultimately led to this case finally being solved, but the case still required a full review of old material, as well as reconnecting with the victims and carrying out new inquiries to ensure the case was fit for trial in 2025.

"Luckily, the victims have been spared any added trauma of having to relive what happened to them in court and hopefully today will put an end to what has been many years of living with unresolved pain."