Salisbury man pleads guilty to rape of 71 year old more than 40 years ago
He will be sentenced next month
A Salisbury man has pleaded guilty to raping a 71 year old woman at her home, more than 40 years ago.
Kenneth Wells, 63, of Verona Road, Salisbury, appeared at Salisbury Crown Court today (01/09/21) and pleaded guilty to burglary, rape and false imprisonment.
In the early hours of November 6th 1980, Wells broke into the home of Violet Brown in Collingbourne Ducis.
She lived alone in her house and was woken up by the sound of Wells breaking into the house and coming into her bedroom.
He then raped her before leaving the property and locking her inside.
She had to wait until morning before finally being able to alert her neighbours and the police.
Wells was arrested shortly after the incident and remained the prime suspect, but there was never enough evidence to lead to a charge.
However, the force kept hold of the file and officers from the Major Crime Team reopened the cold case last summer and re examined the investigation.
After a detailed re-investigation, and using the latest in DNA technology, they were able to confirm a direct match between the evidence recovered from the original scene and Kenneth Wells.
On 29 June 2021, he was arrested at his home address in Salisbury, and subsequently charged with burglary, rape and false imprisonment.
Ms Brown never saw her attacker brought to justice as she died in February 1996 aged 87.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Darren Hannant, from the Major Crime Investigation Team, said:
“There is no doubt that this horrendous attack had a lasting impact on Ms Brown, who had to live with the memory of this traumatic incident for the rest of her life. She was never comfortable in her own home after the attack and moved out a short time later; the effect on her quality of life was significant.
“Despite the fact that she is no longer alive, she has been at the forefront of all of our minds throughout this investigation, and we have been determined to crack this case to finally ensure the man responsible was arrested and convicted.”
Wells has been remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on Friday 1st October.