A man who raped one teenage girl and molested another has finally been sentenced — more than than 30 years after he fled the country having been charged in connection with the shocking crimes.
Michael Connors, now 48 and also known as John Connors, absconded to southern Ireland three decades ago having been due appear at Carlisle Crown Court in November 1990.
He remained there but was brought to justice after he was arrested for a minor offence and his DNA was shared on an EU-wide database.
Now a married father-of-seven, he had been staying at a travellers’ camp site in the Workington area in 1990.
On May 27 that year, while aged 17, he and another male went for a drive with three girls in his yellow van.
After one female got out, Connors drove out to the countryside and the other two girls — both aged 15 — were prevented from leaving.
He raped one girl in the back of his vehicle. “She kept shouting at him to get off but he wouldn’t,” said prosecutor Peter Warne.
Under a false pretence, Connors then took the other girl to a field where he sexually assaulted her.
Visually shaken after they were transported back to the Workington area, the tearful girls told others what had happened.
Connors’s DNA was recovered from the rape victim’s clothing and he was picked out in an identification parade but initially protested his innocence.
He finally admitted rape and indecent assault charges in court today.
In a recently provided victim impact statement, the woman he had raped as a child said the incident had a dramatic impact on her life.
Both women spoke of learning, in 2019, that police were closing in on Connors.
Of the indecent assault victim, the prosecutor said: “She had nightmares and was in a right mess.”
Handing Connors a four-year jail term, Recorder Andrew Nuttall told him: “For 30 years, the victims in this court have had no justice at all.
“Today, hopefully, they will see that justice is finally done.”
Connors must abide by the strict sex offender notification requirements indefinitely.
