Ex-police radio dispatcher jailed 7 years for rape

A former police radio dispatcher who raped and strangled a woman has been jailed for seven years.

Harry Blumire, 24, had worked in the Bedfordshire Police control room when he was arrested while off duty in Northamptonshire in June 2024.

Blumire, from Slade Crescent in Kettering, was immediately suspended and dismissed in September 2024.

He was convicted at Leicester Crown Court of rape, sexual assault, actual bodily harm and intentional strangulation on 7 October.

Blumire, who had denied the charges, was sentenced to seven years in total for the rape. The sentences for the other charges - 24 months, nine months and 18 months, respectively - will run concurrently.

All offences took place between August 2023 and May 2024 against a woman in her 20s.

Bedfordshire Police's assistant chief constable John Murphy said: "He had tried to use his role as a member of police staff to dissuade the victim from coming forward by telling her she would not be believed.

"That could not be further from the truth."

Det Con Gina Rosignoli, of Northamptonshire Police, praised the woman's "remarkable strength and determination" during an investigation that took more than two years to reach trial.

She said: "I hope this outcome reassures other victims of sexual offences that they will be listened to, supported and taken seriously when they come forward to report what has happened to them.

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