M25 rapist quizzed over 1987 attack

Chris Greenwood,Press Association
Wednesday 27 January 2010 10:47 GMT

One of Britain's most notorious serial rapists has been questioned by detectives over an attack 23 years ago.

Antoni Imiela, 55, known as the M25 rapist, was taken from his jail cell to a police station for questioning on Tuesday.

He was quizzed over an attack on a woman in her twenties in south-east London in 1987.

Imiela was arrested after forensic experts reviewing hundreds of unsolved cases with new techniques found a DNA match.

He was taken from Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire to be interviewed at a police station in Leeds.

It is understood any prosecution will be based on interviews with the victim at the time of the attack as she has since died.

The case file has been handed to the Crown Prosecution Service which must decide whether to charge Imiela.

Scotland Yard's specialist sex crime investigation team, known as Sapphire, reopened the case recently.

Former railway engineer Imiela was given seven life sentences in 2004 after claiming eight victims in a year-long reign of terror.

He was convicted of rapes around the M25 area in London, Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We can confirm a 55-year-old man has been arrested."

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