DNA match sends man to jail 40 years after rape

Michael Elksnis was jailed for five years and placed on the sex offenders register

A man has been jailed for a rape he committed more than 40 years ago after a DNA match.

Michael Elksnis, 69, of Fishers Court, in Great Yarmouth, was sentenced to five years in prison and placed on the sex offenders register at Luton Crown Court.

In the early hours of 20 August 1981, he attacked and raped a woman in an alleyway in Luton.

He was found guilty of rape after detectives re-examined evidence and found a match to his DNA.

Det Sgt Jo Goodson, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: “This was a predatory attack by a man who saw an opportunity to prey on a lone woman.

“Elksnis was able to continue living his life for years while his victim suffered from the lasting effects of being a victim of rape."

The victim was trying to make her way home when Elksnis repeatedly asked her to go home with him.

He then offered to help her find a taxi, which is when he led her up an alleyway and then raped her.

Ms Goodson said: “I commend the victim for her bravery throughout the case, and having to relive this four decades later."