Carmarthenshire man loses bid to appeal against conviction for the rape of children in the 1970s
A CARMARTHEN man jailed for raping two young girls in historic offences, can have no complaint about his convictions, top judges have ruled.
Richard Jones, aged 59, committed the shocking sex attacks against the schoolgirls when they were aged under 12 and 16, but managed to evade justice for more than 30 years.
Jones, previously of Trevaughan, Carmarthen, was jailed for 13 years at Swansea Crown Court in September 2010, after he was convicted of five counts of rape and three of indecent assault. The attacks took place in the Ammanford area.
Today, three senior judges at London’s Crown Court rejected a challenge by Jones against his convictions, saying there were “no arguable grounds” to undermine the jury’s guilty verdicts.
Judge Deborah Taylor said Jones carried out the horrendous offences in the 1960s and 1970s, repeatedly raping one girl under the age of 16.
His second victim was aged under-12; and the court heard was left utterly traumatised.
The offences did not come to light until 2009, when the two victims came forward and finally reported Jones to the police.
He denied the allegations, claiming they were fabricated.
He was, however, found guilty by a jury.
He also admitted two further counts of indecent assault against one of the victims.
Applying to appeal, Jones’s lawyers argued that his previous legal team should have quizzed the victims over reports they had made of the attacks to their GPs over the years.
But Judge Taylor, sitting with Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Openshaw, said Jones’s trial lawyers had taken an understandable “tactical decision” not to take that course.
She stressed that the appeal was not an opportunity to re-run the trial and concluded: “For these reasons, we consider that this application should fail. There are no arguable grounds of appeal.”
Sept 2010
Archaeologist jailed after rape of girls 30 years ago
A highly respected Ammanford archaeologist has been jailed for 13 years after a jury found him guilty of raping two young girls more than 30 years ago.
Richard Jones, of Margaret Street, had denied the charges following his arrest in January, claiming that the evidence against him was “a total fabrication”.
But a jury at Swansea Crown Court found him guilty of both charges by a majority of 11-1 and 10-2.
Despite the attacks taking place more than three decades ago, the two female victims – who cannot be named for legal reasons – only came forward to report Jones to the police last year.
Following Jones’ conviction, defence counsel James Jenkins urged the judge to impose a lesser sentence due to historic nature of the crimes.
“These offences were committed a very long time ago,” said Mr Jenkins.
“They were committed when he was very much younger than he is now – and there is no suggestion of any impropriety in the 30-odd years since they were committed.”
The court heard how Jones had retrained following the miners’ strike and pit closures of the 1980s and carved himself a new career and a new life as an archaeologist.
Judge Paul Thomas QC said in his sentencing that Jones’ “depraved” offences had affected the lives of both his victims until the present day.
“You have been living a lie and finally your past has caught up with you,” Judge Thomas told Jones.
Imposing a 13-year sentence, Judge Thomas told Jones he would be released once he had served at least six-and-a-half years behind bars.
Jones was also told he would be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life and banned from ever working with children or vulnerable adults.
