A HUDDERSFIELD man has been jailed for rape – 20 years after he committed the crime.

Thomas Madigan, of Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Moor, was sentenced to six years in prison at Leeds Crown Court yesterday for raping a woman at her home on November 1, 1987.

Madigan, now 48, was a suspect at the time, but denied the allegation and the case remained unsolved for many years.

But justice finally caught up with him 20 years later thanks to advances in DNA technology which was able to pinpoint him at the scene of the rape.

Madigan was arrested in December last year by officers from Operation Recall, which uses recent advances in DNA technology to reassess unsolved cases. He admitted the offence while he was awaiting trial.

Sentencing Madigan to six years behind bars, Judge Shaun Spencer QC told him: “Because of the advances in technology that offence which was committed by you over 20 years ago has now caught up with you.”

Madigan was 26 when he subjected the then 49-year-old woman to the horrific sex attack in her home in the Bradley Mills area of Huddersfield.

The woman had just returned from a night out with friends to the terraced property where she lived alone.

She arrived home at around 12.30am and let out her dog, leaving the kitchen door slightly open so it could get back in.

Madigan entered through the open door and pounced on the terrified woman as she returned back into the kitchen.

Michelle Colborne, prosecuting, said: “He struck a blow to her face and she was knocked to the floor. She tried to get up but he grabbed her and pushed her backwards to the stairs.

“She pleaded with him to leave, telling him that her husband was due home in a futile attempt to get him to desist.

“She tried repeatedly to get away from him, but she was struck to the face again and he held her down. Whilst the defendant pulled up her skirt and removed her underwear he was punching her. She pleaded with him to stop as she felt his weight on her.”

Madigan was one of a number of suspects questioned by police at the time of the attack, but gave an alibi that was accepted.

Ms Colborne said: “The swabs taken internally and from her underslip were retained in forensic science labs in Wetherby.

“Madigan became a suspect again in 2007 and as a result swabs were obtained with his consent. They were sent to the laboratory for analysis and it was revealed that it was his DNA

When Madigan was questioned by police last year he originally denied the offence and claimed that the DNA was inaccurate or a set up.

Ms Colborne said that the victim, now aged 69, was left scarred by Madigan’s attack on her.

She said: “She was a very proud, sociable woman, despite the fact that she lived alone. She has felt anxious and fearful ever since this attack.

“She has had no relationships and doesn’t trust men now; she has also moved homes as a result of this.”

The court heard that Madigan has convictions for burglary and robbery.

He was also fined £20 for indecent assault after slapping a woman on her bottom when he was in his teens.

Gill Batts, for Madigan, said: “Twenty years has passed since this offence was committed. He has continued to commit some offences, but his circumstances have changed, he has a partner and a family and pleading guilty to an offence such as this now is difficult.”

She asked Judge Spencer to give Madigan some credit for his guilty plea, which he accepted and discounted two years off his sentence for.

Judge Spencer told Madigan: “On November 1, 1987, you committed the offence of rape. Because of the advances in technology that offence which was committed by you over 20 years ago when you were 26 has now caught up with you.

“This woman was raped in her own home when you were a complete stranger, an intruder in that house. In order to commit the rape you used some force, punching her about her face.”