A MAN has pleaded guilty to raping a woman more than 40 years ago after DNA technology allowed detectives to identify him.

Roland Long, 67, from Nailsea, North Somerset, admitted carrying out the sexual offence on August 17, 1980, in the Cardiff area.

Long chose to change his plea during a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday (January 6), having previously pleaded not guilty to the charge.

He was arrested in September 2020, and charged in August last year after South Wales Police reopened an investigation in 2019 into the historic rape.

He has since been remanded into custody.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke ordered pre-sentence and psychiatric reports be carried out.

However, addressing Long, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said: "It is inevitable in this case that there will be a significant and immediate custodial sentence."

Long is due to be sentenced on February 18.

Long was initially arrested in September 2020following an investigation by the South Wales Police Specialist Crime Review Unit into an incident in the Roath area of Cardiff in August 1980.

At the time, Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Miles, head of the South Wales Police Specialist Crime Review Unit, said: “We remain committed to investigating undetected serious crimes and often re-look at cases as forensic science develops.

“Help and support is available for all victims of sexual violence and I would encourage any victims; no matter how long ago the offence was perpetrated, to come forward.”