This happened near to my daughter's flat - she heard the victim's screams - a 20 year old girl coming back from a night out - at 7 a.m this morning. Police have ticker-taped the area.
I wonder if it would be useful to have a more definite call for information.
Presumably there is a description now of this attacker (or attackers).
The chances are he is living/staying locally. The attack is unlikely to be the first time this person has caused problems. He very likely will have drawn attention to himself, created alarm to other people. It may well be that a local request for information from people who have noticed someone fitting that description behaving suspiciously would be fruitful.
I think it would also be very helpful to release some information about the lead-up to these two attacks, for example;
- were the two victims walking on foot up from green lanes? had they been out in the local area? or had they got off a bus on green lanes?
- OR, were they walking down from the Wightman Road ends of Pemberton and Mattison Roads?
One would assume they were spotted and/or followed - so it would be useful to know of any patterns so people can be on their guard if doing anything similar.
Might I suggest the local SNT and/or regular police increase visibility in the area late at night, particularly around the passageway area as both attacks allude to an 'alleyway' which I assume means the passageway?
I'm not a huge fan of CCTV taking over, but I would support cameras positioned on the passageway, as this is one of the main locations of of crime and ASB in this area...
Just out of interest if the man was seen fleeing the scene, did no one think of pursuing this guy? I admit incredibly simplistic and everyone is still inside but surely someone was around?
The police and community have to do something about this nasty individual. Will there be a description or e-fit coming from the police?
Permalink Reply by Iona on December 16, 2009 at 13:38
OH my god, I'm in total shock. I live on Warham Road and find this area so safe.....I can't believe there have now been 2 attacks in the last month.
Myself and other women who leave early (before daylight) will have to be extra careful too. Its still dark around 7ish when I leave and there are always other single women walking down the roads too at this time going to work.
I hope this poor girl is okay. My god! This is very very bad.
Permalink Reply by Pink on December 16, 2009 at 14:34
That's so sad. I feel really anxious now, my flatmates and I are all 20-something females. Thanks for letting us know about this, I've told them to be very careful. Hope that nasty man is caught very soon.
This is really upsetting to hear, especially considering there had been another attack not that long ago! Horrible. I'm always a bit nervous when I come home late at night and scuttle along the quiet streets from the bus stop to my front door, but I usually figure I'm just being paranoid. Will have to be extra careful now! Really not fair that women have to spend their lives worrying about this kind of thing.
What dreadful news.
Is it a strange coincedence of timing or are the two incedances related? 7am - a scarily public time of day for this sort of horror to take place.
Does anyone know if the police are actually going to do anything proactive about these two crimes? I have always felt safe in this neighbourhood, but with women being attacked at breakfast time my feelings of security are fast dissolving.
As residents, what can we do to protect ourselves? (and catch the perpetrator(s) making our once-safe streets now the scene of two really horrific attacks?)
Permalink Reply by IB on December 16, 2009 at 15:26
Indeed.
We can probably try to keep an eye on each other and the neighbourhood.
I don't want to panic or get overly paranoid as I feel once I do those guys have won.
However, I must say that I have always felt safe there so far but when I walked home yesterday I was waiting for somebody else to walk up the street with me.
Also, today I ordered a personal safety alarm :(.
If I hadn't been on the bus that day with the girl in front of which house it happened I wouldn't even know what had happened.
Police didn't tell us much when they asked for witnesses of an incident that morning.
I understand they cannot compromise their investigations, but it's important for people to be aware and take better care.
Our friends discovered the young woman in their garden after hearing her scream and brought her into the house. Their house, car etc. was ticker taped apparently. Its not really appropriate to go into any further details about the incident - suffice to say that it is extremely worrying and unsettling that a number of sexual assaults and now a rape have occured in a very short space of time. Perhaps its trite to say this but events like these cause much wider ripples and effect many more people than this poor young woman: other women in the area, our friends who had to deal with this trauma while trying to shield their young daughter from the chaos that ensues following such an event.
I echo what birdy_too says and would add that the community need to take proactive steps to deal with these issues... it isnt enough to leave it for the police to deal with. Maybe this thread could turn from reporting a horrible incident into a focus for discussing positive actions to help combat or deter future events??? We mustn't let our community come under attack like this
Permalink Reply by IB on December 16, 2009 at 15:57
I definitely agree but anything that would be done mustn't interfere with the police work, of course. We don't want those guys to disappear and start in a new area..they need to get caught and locked up.
What do you suggest? I think positive actions would be great to help avoid that we are all feeling like victims.
Are you thinking about patrols in the morning or something like that? How about trying to find out if there are other people having to walk down certain streets and join forces? Not sure how easy it would be to achieve though..Hand out personal safety alarms?
id certainly be happy to take part in anything co-ordinated with other residents like patrols. Anything organised must obviously not get tarnished with accusations/perceptions of vigilantism, but have clear objectives, be open, accountable etc. Personal Safety alarms are perhaps the best current form of self protetion i can imagine.
One thing i would hate to see though is any action against sex attacks to become conflated so that women feel more paranoid and insecure. Perhaps some of the women (and men too of course) could take inspiration from positive actions such as reclaim the night whose actions have made a defiant, assertive presense felt, rather than retrograde steps such as staying indoors to stay safe.