A driving instructor has today (25 January) been found guilty of raping a young woman in Folkestone 25 years ago.

Martin Eke, 46, was convicted by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court of raping 21-year-old Jacqueline Spriddell as she walked home alone after a night out in the town with friends in October 1986.

It took the jury just three hours to come back with their majority 10 to two verdict.

Eke, who now lives in Douglas Road, Tonbridge, was arrested last year by cold case detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate following a review of the unsolved case.

They were able to get a DNA hit on a sample given by Eke when he was arrested in 2005 which linked him to the attack.

Miss Spriddell, who suffered kidney problems, died from renal failure in 2001.

Eke, who denied rape, will be sentenced tomorrow.

On 26 January 2012 Eke was sentenced to eight years after being found guilty of rape. He will serve half his sentence behind bars and the remainder on licence.

© Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2012