Rapist jailed for 1995 attack on boy in Bedford

Bedfordshire Police released an e-fit image of James Devlin in 1995

A sex offender already serving a life sentence has been jailed for 13 years for raping a schoolboy 23 years ago.

James Devlin, 55, attacked the 15-year-old boy after approaching him at a bus stop in Shortstown, close to Bedford, in October 1995.

In a statement to Luton Crown Court, the victim said the rape "affected every single area of my life for the worse".

Devlin was sentenced via video link from Littlehey Prison, Cambridgeshire.

He had been expecting to be released from prison last year until this case was opened and new DNA tests carried out.

At the time of his arrest, Devlin was serving a life sentence for the rape of a 14-year-old boy in Northampton in 1996.

He was also jailed in the 1980s for the rapes of a 14 and 15-year-old.

Devlin was released from prison in 2004 but recalled in 2006 after it was discovered he had formed an inappropriate relationship with a young adult male.

'Extreme harm'

The court heard that on 16 October 1995, Devlin approached the schoolboy at a bus stop and asked if he would help him get his car started before pulling him into bushes and raping him.

After the attack, the victim ran on to Cardington Road and flagged down a car with an elderly couple inside.

Devlin was convicted of the rape in January after pleading not guilty.

Judge Barbara Mensah said he had caused "severe and extreme harm to the victim".

The victim's statement said the rape had affected every part of his life and "sent me down the wrong path".

The court heard he had moved out of his home into a bedsit, did not sit his GCSEs, was bullied, suffered from anxiety and depression and became addicted to alcohol and heroin.