Police blunder left ‘Night stalker’ rapist free to attack

• Delroy Grant convicted of 29 crimes, including rape • Met police admit they missed chance to catch him in 1999 • 146 offences believed to have been committed since then A police blunder allowed a prolific sex offender who carried out a total of 203 burglaries and sexual assaults to terrorise the elderly for a decade, it can finally be reported. The admission from the Metropolitan police can be revealed after Delroy Grant was convicted by a jury at Woolwich crown court on 29 counts of preying on 18 elderly men and women between 1992 and 2009. Police apologised for missed chances to stop Grant as they said he was responsible for some of the most “awful and disturbing crimes” in the history of Scotland Yard. Police admit that 146 offences happened after they missed a chance to catch the “sickening and depraved” attacker in 1999, meaning the bulk of his victims could have been spared suffering. Among those offences were 23 sexual assaults. Grant’s offending began in 1991 and ended only when he was arrested in November 2009. He had been charged with committing 18 burglaries, three rapes, one attempted rape and seven indecent assaults. Police believe he was responsible for 203 crimes, targeting no one younger than 68. His oldest victim was 89. Seven of his victims died after Grant targeted them. They and others were so traumatised by the attacks that they remained haunted by the fear that he would come after them again. Grant, 53, was dubbed “the night stalker” because he always struck at night. He attacked his victims after watching them, often for hours, and cutting phone and power lines. Sometimes he carried out ferocious assaults, other times heeding pleas for mercy. But the story that can now be told is that the chance to catch and stop Grant was missed in 1999. On 28 May of that year, Grant carried out a burglary during which a member of the public spotted a car which seemed suspicious and noted down the numberplate. On hearing that a nearby house had been burgled, that person contacted the police and passed on the car registration. Police did investigate but became confused and linked the numberplate to a Delroy Grant living in east London, who was the wrong age. His DNA was checked against DNA recovered from the crime scenes and did not match. But worse was to follow. By August 1999, the name of Delroy Grant was marked down as having being investigated and eliminated from inquiries. Grant carried out at least three rapes after May 1999. A senior officer said: “We accept the fact it was a major omission for which we have apologised.” The police error was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It has recommended that two officers should receive words of advice. Crime Police London Older people Rape Independent Police Complaints Commission Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.