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Key Details
Victims were aged between 62 and 93 who suffered burglary, indecent assault, rape and attempted rape.
Perpetrator: Delroy Easton Grant (age 53 at time of trial)
Locations: Shirley, Croydon, Orpington, West Dulwich, Beckenham, Coulsdon, Forest Hill, Catford, Brockley, Bromley, Addiscombe, Sidcup, Kent and Surrey.
Dates: First confirmed attack: October 1992, Long breaks between crimes: 1992–1997, 1999–2002 More frequent attacks between 1997–1999, 2003, and again in 2008–2009, Arrested: 14 November 2009
Key Facts
Over 200 confirmed offences; police estimate as many as 600 victims
Offences included:
29 charges at trial: 18 burglaries, 7 indecent assaults, 3 rapes, 1 attempted rape
DNA collected from scenes but not matched in the system for years
He used forensic knowledge to avoid detection – always wore gloves, removed light bulbs, cut phone lines
Victims described a sweet smell and soft-spoken demeanour
Often kissed or spoke kindly to victims, then assaulted them
Sometimes left without attacking if victims chastised him
Investigated under Operation Minstead (launched in 1998)
Police error in 1999 misidentified another Delroy Grant and failed to follow up
Huge community DNA trawl led to accusations of racial profiling
Caught in 2009 after being spotted in Shirley – police followed his car and a dog traced him to a freshly burgled house
Made a chilling comment during booking: “I always wear gloves”
At trial, he blamed his ex-wife for planting DNA from 1970s samples and also suggested his son might be the culprit
Convicted and sentenced to four life sentences with a minimum term of 27 years
Currently imprisoned at HMP Frankland, a high-security prison