Alexandra Park rapist faces 10 years in jail

It has been reported that the man who raped a girl of 14 at Alexandra Park on the borders of Surbiton and Tolworth has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.  We have previously reported on this in April and July of this year.

Andrew Percival had a previous conviction for GBH, along with other convictions for more minor offences.  The girl is apparently now scared to go out alone.  This was a horrific crime that will no doubt be worrying many local parents.  Our thoughts go out to the girl who was brave enough to come forward and report the crime. 

It is good to hear that he received a reasonably long sentence that highlights the seriousness of the crime. Whether it's enough is a difficult to say, but at least he hasn't been given a stupidly short sentence that we sometimes read about.  Hopefully he will have to serve the majority of those ten years locked up.  He will also have to sign the sexual offenders register for the rest of his life.

We shouldn't forget that Surbiton and Kingston is still a safe borough in which to live.