Wealthy businessman Mark Carnelley who raped 25-year-old woman at knifepoint in busy city centre is caught by DNA 26 YEARS later

COLD case detectives nabbed a wealthy businessman who raped a woman at knifepoint 26 years ago after he got in a fight with rowdy teens outside his home decades later.

Mark Carnelley attacked the 25-year-old woman in 1990 in a busy shopping centre but police weren't able to solve the case until they obtained a DNA sample.

Carnelley, now 52, was forced to give a sample in 2010 after he was accused of assaulting a teenager while confronting a gang of rowdy youths outside his five-bedroom house.

But it took another five years for detectives to pin the rape on him after Nottinghamshire Police carried out a cold case review of unsolved crimes in 2015.

DNA samples on the victim's clothes were taken and provided a match with Carnelley when they were put in the police national database.

The businessman was finally put behind bars yesterday for seven years after admitting rape at Nottingham Crown Court.

He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely.

Judge Stuart Rafferty QC said: "At the age of 26 you did something absolutely unforgivable.

"As the time went by you simply confined her and that night to memory.

"Were it not for advances in science you would never have been caught.

"Thank heavens sometimes for science."

The court heard how Carnelley, who ran a successful printing firm, bundled the woman into an alleyway in Nottingham city centre on September 14, 1990.

He then threatened the victim with a knife before kissing her and pulling her to the ground in bushes where he brutally raped her.

The judge said Carnelley walked away thinking the prospect of the victim identifying him was minimal.

He said the rapist had become successful and had a family but told him his victim "had nothing" because he had destroyed her.

In a statement read out in court, the victim, now in her 50s, said: "It made me feel like I wanted to rip my insides out and my body didn't belong to me anymore.

"I never got over what happened to me."

Married Carnelley was snared after he challenged a group of rowdy teenagers causing a disturbance outside his home in 2010.

One of the youngsters claimed he had assaulted them and called the police. He was let off with a caution but his DNA was kept on file.

In 2015, police carried out a cold case review on the unsolved 1990 rape and samples taken from the victims clothed matched that of Carnelley.

The court heard the probability of the DNA found on the rape victim not being Carnelley's was less than one-in-a-billion.

Ian Way, defending, said the rapist had "no specific recollection of this incident" but had acknowledged the weight of the case against him and pleaded guilty.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Inspector Justine Dakin, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: "This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim.

"She was frightened Carnelley would use further violence during the attack and was extremely scared throughout the whole incident.

"I would like to commend her for the immense bravery she has shown throughout the investigation.

"She is a truly an incredible women, who has waited almost 27 years for justice to be served.

"I hope she can take some comfort from the fact that her attacker has finally been caught and is starting a lengthy prison sentence tonight.

"I would also like to commend DC Donna Robinson who investigated this offence thoroughly and meticulously and the forensic work involved which helped build the case against Carnelley and bring him to justice."

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