A customs officer has been convicted of kidnapping and raping a young mum in Folkestone more than seven years ago.

Kelvin Bennett, 45, shook his head and sat down in the dock as the jury of eight men and four women returned guilty verdicts to three offences of rape and one of kidnap in December 2000.

They heard during the trial that Bennett, who had been working in Dover and Folkestone at the time, evaded arrest until September 2007.

His DNA was added to the national database and a match was made to crime seven years before.

The 21-year-old victim had been subjected to a terrifying ordeal after being snatched from the street as she walked home from a pub.

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Bennett bundled the single mother into his car before driving her to remote spots and raping her three times. She was eventually abandoned and she went to a nearby house for help.

Bennett, of Dart Street, Bordesley, Birmingham, was remanded in custody for reports and will be sentenced on September 3. He shook his head and sneered at police officers sitting in the public gallery as he was led down to the cells.

When arrested Bennett accepted he must have had sex with the woman, although he claimed he could not remember. He said the sex would have been consensual.

victim wept

His victim wept as she gave evidence to the jury from behind screens. She told them she was walking home alone following an argument with her boyfriend when she was grabbed from behind.

"The next minute I was on the floor and trying to get up. My legs were being held. I was struggling," she said.

"I tried to get away. I was screaming, hoping someone would hear me, but no one did. The next minute I was being put in a car."

The woman said she was crying as she asked the man what he was going to do to her. "It was dark. I was so scared and shocked," she continued. "I didn't know what was going to happen."

She said Bennett made her get into the back of the car and raped her. He then drove off before stopping to rape her twice more.

"At some point he said he would have to kill me," she said. "I said: 'No, please let me go.' I said my son was ill and needed me. He didn't believe me. I said I wouldn't go to the police."

The woman was dumped in the countryside and Bennett drove off. Distressed, she walked to a nearby house. "My knees were bloody and my tights were ripped," she added.

swabs

Prosecutor Cairns Nelson said swabs were taken from the victim and the full DNA profile was found to be that of a stranger not known to the police.

"For over six-and-a-half years the perpetrator was unknown," he said. "He must have thought he had got away with it."

Bennett had been a customs officer for many years. He was living in the Basingstoke area with the mother of his two children when he was deployed to Dover and Folkestone. He was involved in an operation cracking down on bootleggers.

While there, the court heard, he went to clubs and had sex with "many, many women", including strangers, said Mr Nelson.

When arrested, Bennett denied the allegations and claimed he only had consensual sex. Shown a photograph of the victim he said he could not recall her.

At the end of the trial Judge Philip Statman praised both the efforts of the police and forensics scientists in bringing Bennett to justice.

"This case was cold," he said. "The public should be extremely grateful for the diligence of the Forensic Science Service and the skill that they possess.

"And it should also be grateful for the policing which allowed this inquiry to continue and I am extremely grateful to the officer in this case and the team of officers who investigated this case as thoroughly as they did."

Judge Statman also commended the behaviour of members of the public who assisted the investigation, including Jane Begg and Janet Wallis.

Mrs Begg, the judge said, had come out at night to see what was going on, while Mrs Wallis cared for the victim after she raised the alarm.

"Mrs Wallis deserves credit for her public-spirited conduct, particularly bearing in mind she dealt with the distressed victim in the early hours of the morning," said Judge Statman.

"It is good to see the public-spirited nature of those individuals in what was an extremely grave series of offences. I commend their behaviour."

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The trial and conviction is a first for Kent Police's newly formed team, established in April this year, that specifically re-investigates unsolved murders and stranger rapes from the 1960s onwards.

Bennett was arrested in February after the national DNA database revealed DNA taken from him in relation to another offence also matched that which had previously been taken from the victim.

Detective Chief Inspector David Withers, from Kent Police's Major Crime Department, said: "Bennett was believed to be of good character, working in a position of authority and trust.

"He has totally betrayed that trust and let everyone down - himself, his family, friends, neighbours and colleagues, but most of all the victim of this terrible crime and her loved ones.

"I hope this case highlights to everyone that rapists come from all walks of life. Like other serious offences, rape knows no social boundaries."