"Night Stalker" who preyed on London elderly given four life terms

Mar 25, 2011, 15:28 GMT

London - A British man dubbed the Night Stalker for carrying out vicious attacks - from burglaries to rape - on elderly people during a 17-year reign of terror was Friday given four life sentences and was told he could die in jail.

Delroy Grant, a 53-year-old former minicab driver, and father of 10, was found guilty of preying on vulnerable pensioners in south London between 1992 and 2009.

He was convicted of 29 offences, including four rapes and seven sexual assaults, following a jury trial at Woolwich Crown Court in London.

But police said they feared that Grant, who routinely wore a face mask and gloves, and who cut off his victims' telephone lines and unscrewed light bulbs before assaults, could have attacked more than 500 victims.

Judge Peter Rook told Grant he would have to spend a minium of 27 years behind bars, but 'could die in jail.'

'It's hard to imagine the extreme fear that the feel of your gloved hand and the sight of your masked figure looming above them must have been felt by your victims in their beds', said the judge.

'Your offending is in a league of its own', he added.

The court heard moving accounts from victims, many of whom said they had chosen to sleep during the day and stay up at night for fear of further attacks.

During the trial, it was revealed that police botched a chance of catching Grant in 1999, for which London's Metropolitan Police offered an official apology.

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