A convicted murderer and rapist who served more than 50 years in prison has been jailed again for sexually assaulting a woman while out on licence.
Ron Evans, 82, was sentenced on Thursday to four years behind bars after being found guilty of molesting his “vulnerable” victim in Wembley, north London, in July 2022.
Prosecutors said he lured the woman to his flat after pretending to be a “harmless pensioner” who was volunteering in his local community.
“But in reality, and despite his age, he was still very much a deviant sexual predator waiting for his next opportunity,” said Pragati Patel from the Crown Prosecution Service.
Evans is believed to be one of Britain’s longest-serving prisoners. He was first jailed at the age of 22 for the sexually-motivated murder of 21-year-old shop worker Kathleen Heathcote in 1963.
He was released from prison after 11 years in 1975.
But he then went on to carry out a string of sex attacks on women in Bristol in the late 1970s and became known as the “Clifton rapist”.
He was eventually caught and served a further 39 years in prison before being released on licence in 2018.
The court heard Evans met his latest victim at a community centre, where he had been volunteering, after she began visiting the site after suffering from domestic violence.
He then manipulated the woman and pretended he only wanted to be friends.
After luring her to his home, Evans boasted about “getting emails with nude pictures from women” who he claimed wanted to have sex with him – before he began groping her bottom.
When the victim phoned Evans the next day to confront him, he said: “This kind of talk will get me in trouble,” and hung up.
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At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Judge Vanessa Francis sentenced him to four years in prison and ordered him to pay compensation to his unnamed victim.
She also warned it would be for the Parole Board to decide when it was safe to release him.
Judge Francis told Evans: “The sheer length of time you remained in custody speaks volumes as to the Parole Board’s view of the risk you posed.
“It is apparent from your actions towards [the victim] that time has done nothing to change the fact you are a sexual predator.”
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The judge added: “You sought out a new victim that was vulnerable who you knew you could manipulate…
“The risk you pose to women is significant. The combination of your history and continuing sexual interest underlies my concern you are a risk of serious sexual harm to women.”
Evans was cleared of three other sexual offences against a second female complainant.
