Britain's "Night Stalker" sentenced to life for rapes of elderly

By Andy Bloxham 8:00AM GMT 26 Mar 20
The Telegraph [Britain]

Delroy Grant, 53, “terrified a whole community” for 17 years by committing hundreds of offences against pensioners including rape, sexual assault and burglary. Grant singled out his victims by looking for signs they were elderly and lived alone.

Dressed in black, wearing a mask or balaclava, with gloves on his hands, he would remove entire window panes, cut telephone lines and remove light bulbs before robbing and molesting his victims in the middle of the night. Yesterday, one of his victims, known only as Miss J for legal reasons, took the witness stand and faced her attacker.

At 5ft 1ins tall, with pure white hair and wire-rimmed spectacles, dressed in a white top and blue jacket, the 85-year-old stood as her police statement was read to the court.

"It is something that I shall never forget completely. It still feels so recent. I feel a huge amount of resentment and wonder how the suspect chose me. I often think to myself 'Why me?' or 'Why any of the other victims?'. I also feel a sense of indignation and anger as I feel that I had done everything reasonable to avoid this sort of thing happening. I have found that time is not a great healer. I don't think that it has got any easier over the last year. I certainly haven't got back my peace of mind."

She then added in person that she failed to understand why Grant had struck, before thanking the judge for the opportunity to speak.

The police operation to find Grant cost an estimated £7million and was the largest hunt for a serial rapist ever conducted in London. However, they had missed an opportunity to arrest him in 1999, which allowed him to strike again over 100 times more.

He was yesterday jailed for life, with a minimum of 27 years before he could be considered for parole.
Judge Peter Rook, sentencing, told Grant he remained a “very dangerous man capable of committing heinous crimes and causing incalculable harm” and warned him he was likely to die in jail.

The judge said: “You targeted elderly victims living alone. Your actions blighted the remaining precious years of their lives. Their homes, where many of them had lived for years, should have been their safest refuge where they could have expected to live their lives undisturbed and at peace. It is hard to imagine the extreme fear that the feel of your gloved hand and the sight of your masked figure looming above them must have been felt by your victims in their beds.”

He also placed Grant on the sex offenders' register for life.

Grant's defence counsel, Courtenay Griffiths QC, admitted that he could offer no mitigation for his client other than to point out that his age meant he would probably spend the rest of his life in jail.
Mr Griffiths added: "These offences were indeed perverse and disgusting and they were also uniquely revolting."

Before the former minicab driver left Woolwich Crown Court, in south London, the judge made these remarks. "Delroy Grant. Your utter depravity knows no bounds. The 18 victims of your offending were all elderly. In respect of nine of them, not only did you break into their homes in the middle of the night, that invasion being a highly traumatic experience for them in itself, but you then proceeded to subject them to humiliating and degrading sexual attacks.

Your offending spanned a period of 17 years. Five south London boroughs were affected by your offending. Over 17 years you have terrified a whole community. As your counsel accepted, thousands of people in south London have been living in fear that they might be your next victim.

It also led to an enormous drain on police resources as the years went by and you evaded arrest. Your offending led to the largest hunt for a serial rapist ever conducted in London.

This series of offences have multiple aggravating features. Your offending falls in a category of its own, way above anything envisaged in the definitive sentencing guidelines.

You targeted elderly victims living alone. Your actions blighted the remaining years of their lives. Their homes, where many of them had lived for years, should have been their safest refuge, where they could expect to live their lives undisturbed and at peace. You chose to invade their homes when they were in bed at night.

It is hard to imagine the extreme fear that the feel of your gloved hand and the sight of your masked figure looming above them must have been felt by your victims in their beds. Those who you raped or attempted to rape were all over 80. Many of your victims were in poor health.

Since in every case but one, your elderly victims lived on their own, I can only conclude that these offences were well-planned and you targeted victims. Singling out your victims must have involved considerable planning, as you chose the most vulnerable of people.

In the middle of the night, you would wake your victims who would be sleeping in their own beds by placing a gloved hand over their mouths to stop them screaming. You would shine your torch into their terrified eyes. You would search their homes and steal their money. I am not going to catalogue in detail the trail of distress, fear and misery you have left behind you.

There can be only one sentence and that is life imprisonment. I have no doubt that these offences are of such seriousness that a life sentence is appropriate to reflect the public abhorrence at your offending. You are a very dangerous man capable of committing heinous crimes and causing incalculable harm to people. It will be a matter for the Parole Board whether you ever be released. It may be that you will never be released.

Your offending is in a league of its own. I must look at the totality of your offending. I bear in mind that you are now 53. If this was a determinate sentence, a total sentence of 54 years would be appropriate. This means the minimum term will be one of 27 years, less the time you have spent in custody. I am told that is one year and 129 days. That makes the total minimum sentence 25 years, 236 days. I stress that is the minimum term you must serve.

It will follow automatically that you will be placed on the Sexual Offences Register for life.