Rapist struck again after forensics match missed

Northamptonshire Police admitted making errors in the investigation into a rape by Ian Dunbar who went on to attack again

A rapist was able to attack again when police failed to follow up a forensic match to his first victim.

Ian Dunbar, 43, assaulted a woman in May 2017, and Northamptonshire Police matched a sample to an earlier case.

However, a report found investigations "appeared to continue on the basis there was no match", despite e-mails sent to officers about it.

The force has apologised after the police watchdog found officers' performance "unsatisfactory".

Dunbar attacked another woman in November and was subsequently convicted and given a 25-year sentence.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said both the officer in charge of the initial investigation and their superior received a message saying there had been a sample match from the first attack.

'Apologise unreservedly'

It said that the sample held in the database had been destroyed but contained an attachment listing the name of Dunbar.

The watchdog's investigation found "the officer in charge recorded that a match had been found on the database but they did not know who the man was" and no further inquiries were conducted surrounding Dunbar.

After the second woman was sexually assaulted on 15 November, police found the suspect was Dunbar, the IOPC said.

The watchdog said it was of the opinion that the performance of three officers involved was "unsatisfactory".

Det Supt Mark Behan said the force "apologise unreservedly for the errors made in the initial investigation and as a result of the IOPC's findings, the officers involved are now on an improvement programme".

The detective added he wanted to reassure people the force treated allegations of rape "extremely seriously".