A Preston man has been sentenced to nine years in jail for rape offences.

Paul Dixon, 55 attacked his victim, a woman in her 50s, at an address in the city in 2018 but due to his ill health and other delays has only just been sentenced.

He was found guilty in June and sentenced at Preston Crown Court today (Monday, September 11) Dixon, of Old Orchard, Preston, failed to appear for the hearing and was jailed for nine years in his absence.

Det Sgt Jenny Cobham, of Preston CID, said: “I welcome today’s sentence which I hope gives the victim in this case some sense that justice has been secured, albeit after such a long time.

“I would like to commend her bravery in seeing this case through the judicial process and I hope that her tenacity may give others the confidence to come forward and report any abuse they may have suffered safe in the knowledge that we will investigate professionally and sensitively, putting victims at the heart of everything we do.”