A north Derbyshire man has been locked up for 12 years after stored DNA evidence was used to convict him of a rape that took place nearly 20 years ago.
Kevin Shaw (53) of Salisbury Road, Dronfield, evaded detection for the offence against a 19-year-old woman on September 16, 1989, despite an extensive police enquiry at the time.
But he was found guilty of rape at Sheffield Crown Court last Thursday following a re-investigation of the case.
Speaking after the verdict, Det Insp Alison Griffiths, who oversees South Yorkshire Police's cold case review team, said: "This is a fantastic result. The victim is thrilled, it has given her some closure after 18-and-a-half years.
"We are revisiting all the historical sexual offences, extracting the files and seeing if there were any samples taken at the time."
When Sheffield detectives began a review of the case in September 2007 they found DNA saved from the victim matched a sample provided by Shaw in May 2007 when he was arrested for a public indecency.
DI Griffiths said: "He was convicted of a lesser offence which has resulted in his DNA being placed on the national database. Once the DNA profile was there, we could make the match."
Shaw denied rape, which took place in the Stannington area of Sheffield, and told the court he had consensual sex with the teenager.
Det Sgt Ian Harding of the cold case review team said: "We have a message for anyone out there who has committed such crimes in the past and thought they had got away with it. These cases are never closed and it may be your door we knock on next.
"Using modern techniques such as the science of DNA we are now able to advance such cases and present an opportunity for victims to see justice at last."
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