Having been found guilty a second time by evidence gathered using fresh forensic techniques, a serial rapist has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
In Bedford, in March 2006, Donald Kargbo-Reffell sexually assaulted his 14-year-old victim. Although he was apprehended at the time and forensic evidence was gathered, the methods of the day were insufficient to charge him.
Using fresh technology and forensic testing, the case was reopened under Operation Painter, an inquiry conducted by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit into non-recent sex offences.
Kargbo-Reffell was judged guilty of rape in February by a jury at Luton Crown Court.
37-year-old Kargbo-Reffell is already serving a 12-year term for a rape he committed in 1999 also in Bedford, which was similarly resolved using advanced scientific procedures.
Although DNA samples had been obtained, the criminal could not be located then.
But when the case was reviewed using the new methodology, Kargbo-Reffell was convicted. In 2018, he went into detention.
In the current instance, Kargbo-Reffell persuaded the victim to accompany him to a friend’s flat. He worked her with a drink before sexually attacking her.
Kargbo-Reffell, 55, was sentenced to nineteen years yesterday, Thursday. At the end of his term, he runs the danger of deportation. He is barred from contacting any youngster under the age of eighteen and was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.