Rotherham shoe rapist is a media

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

given to convicted British serial rapist James Desmond Lloyd from

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, a

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. After attacking his victims, Lloyd stole their footwear and jewellery to keep as trophies. Lloyd was known to be active between 1983 and 1986 when his offending suddenly stopped. He was arrested in 2006 after a familial DNA profile linked him to the crimes. He pleaded guilty to four rapes and two attempted rapes, and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Crimes

Between 1983 and 1986 a man violently attacked and raped at least four lone women and attempted to assault at least two others in the Rotherham area. His victims were aged between 18 and 54 and were typically attacked during the early hours of the morning while returning from a night out. During the attacks the perpetrator carried stockings and tights to use as a mask and to tie up his victims. The offender always stole the shoes from his victims; he also often stole their jewellery and perfume. While several suspects were identified and interviewed at the time, the case grew cold. The crimes were featured on the BBC Television programme '' Crimewatch'', which prompted 350 names being provided to authorities. Lloyd was not among those named.

Re-opening of investigation

Following advancements in genetic profiling and forensic science,

South Yorkshire Police South Yorkshire Police (SYP) is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England. The force is led by Chief Constable Lauren Poultney. Oversight is conducted by Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings. T ...

re-opened the case in 2001. Investigators produced a list of just over 40 individuals possibly related to the rapist, based on their DNA profiles. Police spoke to Lloyd's sister, who had provided a DNA sample after a prior drink-driving offence. After learning that the police were investigating him, Lloyd attempted to hang himself. The suicide attempt failed when he was found by his son. At the time he came to the attention of the police, James Lloyd was a married father of two children living in the village of

Thurnscoe Thurnscoe is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Dearne North ward of the Barnsley MBC. Historic counties of England, Historically within ...

, in

. He was a manager at Dearne Valley Printers, a printing firm in

Wath upon Dearne Wath upon Dearne (shortened to Wath or often hyphenated) is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a pop ...

. Police raided his home and the printing firm he managed and found over 100 pairs of women's shoes, both new and used, as well as hundreds of tights and stockings. Police also found a document titled "The Perfect Victim" which detailed identical crimes to the ones committed by Lloyd, although it was unclear if it was written by Lloyd.

Arrest and conviction

In April 2006, Lloyd was arrested and charged. He pleaded guilty to four rapes and two attempted rapes in July 2006, but denied responsibility for one other rape. Lloyd was initially sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for just under fifteen years. Lloyd successfully appealed against the severity of his sentence, with judges at the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

reducing his minimum term to seven years and 263 days. After Lloyd's conviction, Detective Inspector Angie Wright stated "Obviously he had a fetish. There may well be other victims who have not come forward and some of the shoes may belong to other victims which were stolen at the time. Some are brand new but we know he took some from his victims to keep as sort of trophies. Some of the victims were able to identify the shoes that had been taken." Police have stated they believe Lloyd may have had as many as 120 victims.

Aftermath

Detective Inspector Sue Hickman was awarded first prize in the Crime Investigation category at the Airwave Police Professional Awards in 2007 for her work on the case. The 2011 Peter James novel ''Dead Like You'' is based on the case. In an interview with the ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

'', James said he was "instantly drawn" to the shoe rapist case as inspiration for a novel which would "explore the subject of rape from all perspectives, from that of the perpetrator, the victim and the police." An episode of the CBS Reality series '' Written in Blood'' aired in 2017 explores the crime and the efforts to bring Lloyd to justice. Lloyd was released in 2014.

References

{{reflist 1980s in South Yorkshire Crime in South Yorkshire Incidents of violence against women Rape in the 1980s Rape in Yorkshire Robberies in England Shoe rapist Sexual fetishism Violence against women in England Year of birth missing (living people)

Crimes

Re-opening of investigation

Arrest and conviction

Aftermath

See also

References