england-and-wales legal-history
What is the longest known time between the commission of an offence and conviction in English legal history?
<p>In England &amp; Wales, the former Labour peer Lord Ahmed was recently <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-60260113" rel="noreferrer">jailed for sexual offences</a> he was convicted of dating from the early 1970s. This 50+ year gap seems quite long, although obviously for serious sexual offences there is no limitation on prosecution.</p>
<p>What is the longest known time between the commission of an offence and the conviction of the perpetrator in <strong>England &amp; Wales</strong> ?  Is Lord Ahmed's the longest?</p>

<h2>At least 56 years</h2>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Sawoniuk" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Anthony Sawoniuk</a> was convicted in 1999 of 2 murders committed while he was a member of the SS. I cannot find the exact date of the offenses but they were before he deserted in November 1944.</p>
<p>There may be longer ones but on seeing your question, Nazi war crimes popped into my head as something easy to check. If the actual answer is some obscure crime from the 19th century, I don’t know how you’d find it.</p>
