Having admitted guilt for raping a lady at knifepoint, Peter Hall (aka Carl Oates), the Snaresbrook Rapist, has been sentenced to twelve years in jail.
On January 11, 2019, 58-year-old Peter Hall, of no fixed residence, entered a guilty plea to rape at Snaresbrook Crown Court. April 12, 2019, his sentence was issued by the same court.
Thirty years ago, on October 12, 1986, Peter Hall executed the attack in Beckenham. After a night at the movie, a 19-year-old lady was strolling Worsley Bridge Road when Hall grabbed her from behind.
Before raping her, he held a knife to her throat and made her walk to a deserted spot. Peter Hall left the scene following the incident, and the woman dashed home to set off the alert.
Police started looking, but no suspect could be found despite many searches. However, clothes with DNA samples were kept from the site; this would be vital at the end of this investigation.
Then, under the identity of Carl Oates, Peter Hall was taken into custody at Stansted Airport in 2004 for suspected outstanding burglary crimes. His DNA was obtained and entered into the National DNA database during that arrest.
In 2011, a regular cold case review of the rape case was conducted. Re-testing the available DNA samples using technology developed over time constituted part of this.
Between DNA from Peter Hall in 2004 and the DNA from semen discovered at the rape, scientists identified a match chance of 1 in 1 billion.
Peter Hall was detained under a warrant; in 2016, he had been taken into custody in Belgium for stealing crimes. December 2018 saw Hall deported back to London following the issuing of a European Arrest Warrant.
Although Peter Hall first denied any participation in the rape, he finally came clean to the court under the weight of proof against him.
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