CRAYFORD & WOOLWICH: Teenager jailed for stranger rape (From News Shopper)

CRAYFORD & WOOLWICH: Teenager jailed for stranger rape

9:39am Thursday 9th July 2009 in

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A TEENAGER who tracked a complete stranger before abducting her from the street and raping her was branded “a danger to women” by a crown court judge.

Michael Peters, aged 19, was caught within days by officers from Bexley police’s Sapphire Unit because he left his DNA at the scene and was already on the police’s DNA database.

Peters, of Ross House, Master Gunner Place, Woolwich, was arrested within five days of the attack on the corner of Whitehill Road, Crayford, on April 23.

Woolwich Crown Court heard how Peters had followed his 21-year-old victim as she walked down Station Road, Crayford, and along Crayford Road at just after midnight.

As she reached Whitehill Road he pounced, grabbing her from behind and dragging her along the road so forcefully she lost a shoe.

When she screamed for help he hit her, before hauling her onto a stretch of wasteland.

After forcing her to perform a sex act on him, he raped her and then fled the scene.

When he was arrested, Peters at first denied the attack but faced with the forensic evidence he admitted the rape.

He has been in custody since his arrest on April 28.

Sentencing him on two charges of rape, Judge Charles Byers said: “It must be every woman’s nightmare.

“You took a complete stranger off the streets, attacked her from behind using violence and then raped her in a dark and secluded area.”

He added: “An apology may give some small comfort to the victim of this dreadful crime but it can never be enough.”

Peters was jailed for seven-and-a-half years and put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Detective Sergeant Warren Arter, from Bexley’s Sapphire Unit, the top performing sex offences unit in the Met, said: “I would like to reassure the public stranger rapes are rare.”

And he encouraged victims to come forward to police and call the unit on 0300 123 1212.

He said his unit would investigate all reported incidents and provide victims with the support they needed.