Paul Quinn, 52, has been jailed for 24 years for the sickening 2003 rape of a mum-of-two - a crime for which innocent Andrew Malkinson spent 17 years behind bars after he was wrongfully convicted14:46, 05 Jun 2026Updated 15:11, 05 Jun 2026An evil predator has been jailed for the brutal 2003 rape of a woman for which an innocent man was wrongfully convicted and jailed for 17 years.Vile Paul Quinn, 52, was caged for 24 years today for the savage beating and rape that was wrongly blamed on Salford man Andrew Malkinson. He was incorrectly picked out at as the attacker in an identity parade, and in 2004, a jury convicted him solely on the basis of eyewitness accounts.In April, jurors at Manchester Crown Court convicted Quinn of rape, grievous bodily harm, and attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle with intent.The victim, a mother-of-two - hailed as a hero by sentencing judge Mr Justice Bright today - was walking home along Cleggs Lane in Little Hulton, near Salford, in the early hours of July 19, 2003. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was dragged down an embankment by Quinn where she was beaten, raped and strangled.The court previously heard that when she approached a wooded area she heard a man's voice saying: "Come into the bushes, I've got a gun pointing at your head."She texted her boyfriend, who was asleep, and told the man she would call the police before carrying on walking. She said: "I looked over my shoulder. I saw a male, he was wearing a white collared shirt that was fully unbuttoned at the front and flapping open... he was walking on the same side of the road as me and in my direction. Each time I looked over my shoulder he seemed to be closer."I was very frightened by this time… As I approached the motorway bridge...I heard five or six running steps and then felt an almighty force behind me like a push, but with the man attached to me. I remember sliding down a grass embankment…"She said she thought the man was trying to kill her. She said: "Please don't I've got two babies don't hurt me," however she told the court: "That comment seemed to annoy him even more".Mr Justice Bright previously said the woman was left deeply unconscious as a result of being strangled by Quinn. "She was unconscious for half an hour, so unconscious that those things that happened must have caused her extreme pain, but it failed to rouse her, he said. The judge added that it was a "minor miracle" she had not died.Barrister Abigail Husbands read an impact statement from the victim to the court today. She said: "After 20 years I now have justice but that does not change the fact that two lives have been impacted. I am aware that someone has spent 17 years in prison for this. As for what happened to me, that day has stayed with me and will remain with me for life."Every day I look at my face I see the disfigurement, the scar and the permanent reminder of what I experienced that night. I live in constant fear that someone is behind me - like in supermarkets. It was one night that changed my life."During Quinn's trial, his victim bravely told the court her last memory before being strangled unconscious was a man on top of her with his hands around her neck. Quinn consistently denied any involvement in the horrific attack and was never connected to the crime until 2022, when fresh evidence came to light.The judge referred to the woman in the case as a "hero," saying the commonly-used labels "victim" or "complainant" were not appropriate due to her courage and fortitude.He paid tribute to her "quiet dignity" as she recounted the horrific events to the courtroom "through tears". In his sentencing remarks, he described how Paul Quinn had been out drinking, dancing and taking drugs in a pub and at a club and was walking towards his nearby home on the night of the attack when he saw the young woman out late at night walking by herself."This means you must have seen her coming, got in the bushes and concealed yourself before she walked past," the judge said. Quinn spoke to her from the bushes before following the woman for almost a mile, the judge said, a walk which would have taken around 16 minutes.The judge described how Quinn then bundled the woman off to road down an embankment and took her phone from her when she tried to ring for help. He then strangled her until she was unconscious before hitting her in the face so hard he broke her cheek leaving her scarred for life and viciously bit her breast. “You wanted to leave a mark on her,” the judge told Quinn.He then raped her in a horrific attack as she lay unconscious, the judge said, before the woman came to and climbed back up the embankment to asking a passing dog walker for help. The judge said the woman was very lucky she did not die or suffer brain damage from the strangulation.During their investigations of the crime, police produced an e-fit based on a description of the attacker and Andrew Malkinson was picked out of a digital identity parade by the victim and two other witnesses.‌Quinn, who had since moved to Devon, was connected to the crime after advances in DNA technology matched his DNA profile to a sample of saliva taken from the victim's top in 2007. Investigators found that in 2019, Quinn looked up an article about Mr Malkinson's conviction - then moments later - searched 'wrongful convictions uk'.In court, Quinn insisted his internet searches were a "complete coincidence", however officers from Greater Manchester Police stated that at the time of the Google search, nobody other than Andrew Malkinson and his legal team were aware his case was a wrongful conviction. In the wake of reports of a DNA breakthrough in the case, Quinn also started looking into how long DNA is retained on police databases, whether samples could be deleted, and searched "why do I keep sweating all the time" and "why am I sweating so much all of a sudden".The judge also mentioned the "dire effects2 of Andrew Malkinson's wrongful conviction in his sentencing remarks. He said it was "utterly clear" that Quinn knew another man had been wrongfully imprisoned for his crime. "It must have preyed on your conscience" the judge told Quinn, adding that he had still been happy to sit back and let Mr Malkinson suffer the punishment.Article continues belowHe however said it was impossible to compare the “indirect evil” Quinn had inflicted on Mr Malkinson by allowing him to remain in jail with the "direct evil" he had perpetrated on the woman he raped. Quinn was arrested on December 13, 2022, at which point he was informed for the first time that his DNA had been discovered on the victim's clothing.Mr Malkinson was convicted at a trial, despite his persistent and vigorous denial of any involvement and no DNA evidence linking him to the crime. He served 17 years in prison. After trying and failing to challenge his conviction in 2006, 2009 and in 2018, Mr Malkinson was finally successful in 2021 and his conviction was overturned in 2023 after his appeal team secured a fresh examination of the evidence.Quinn was jailed for for 24 years, which includes 21 years for two counts of rape and an extension period of three years on account of his dangerousness. He could be released on parole after serving 14 years. Time served will count towards his prison sentence, having spent 633 days already, the Judge said. "The remainder of the sentence will be served on licence in the community," he added. If Quinn fails to do so he risks being recalled to prison.