A 26-YEAR-OLD man has been sent to prison for “brutally and repeatedly” raping an elderly woman, after breaking into her downstairs bedroom.
Michael Gold, from the south London suburb of Bromley, had pleaded guilty to three counts of raping his 88-year-old victim at her home in the Grove Park neighbourhood of Lewisham, on 18 June this year.
At Croydon Crown Court today, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
The elderly woman has been unable to return to the house she lived in for 20 years, and has been suffering persistent nightmares, police said.
According to a Metropolitan Police statement, the attack took place after the woman had gone to bed on a Thursday night this summer.
She awoke to see Gold climbing in through her bedroom window in the early hours of the following morning.
Thinking he meant to rob her, she offered him her pension but he said he was there for ‘her’.
He then brutally raped her three times, leaving her in tremendous pain and collapsed on the floor.
The victim was taken to hospital with heavy bruises across her body, and suffered severe shock.
The discovery of a pair of boxer shorts on her bedroom floor, followed by house-to-house enquiries in the neighbourhood, led investigators to Gold.
Subsequent testing revealed fingerprint and DNA matches at the scene of the attack, and he was arrested, charged, and pleaded guilty.
Reacting to today’s sentencing, Detective Sergeant Darren Naylor said:
The actions of Gold that day are truly shocking. He brutally and repeatedly raped a vulnerable elderly lady who believed she was safe in the home where she had lived for more than 20 years.
As a result of the horrific attack the victim has been unable to return home, suffers ongoing nightmares and requires constant care.
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