Hunt for hooded man after woman attacked

Evening Standard

London

Detectives are hunting for a hooded man who dragged a young woman on to waste ground next to a derelict pub and raped her as she walked home from a night out with friends.

Scotland Yard yesterday appealed for witnesses to the attack to speak to them after the victim was sexually assaulted and robbed on Duff Street, Tower Hamlets next to the site of the former African Queen pub.

People living nearby called police after hearing her calls for help at about 4.25am on Thursday, but the attacker fled towards East India Dock Road before officers arrived.

Moments before, the woman had got off an N15 bus on East India Dock Road after travelling back from central London.

Detectives are investigating what they described as a “violent sexual assault”.

They are hunting for a black man aged in his 20s who was wearing a hood in connection with the attack.

Extra police officers have been put on patrol in the area to reassure the public, the Met said yesterday.

Detective sergeant Ian Valentine, who is leading the investigation, said: “This was a particularly violent attack, with the suspect brazenly ignoring warnings from local residents that police were being called and continuing with the assault.

“Thankfully incidents of this nature are extremely rare and we are conducting numerous inquiries to trace the suspect. Extra patrols have also been put in place in the area to provide reassurance.”

Police yesterday released an e-fit of a man wanted in connection with their investigation into a string of horrific sex attacks in west London.

Women were warned by police not to walk alone after dark after three attacks in one night - and another two weeks later in Chiswick.

Detectives have now issued a description of a man they want to question about the assaults.

He is described as white with tanned skin, between 5ft 4ins and 5ft 8ins tall, aged between 25 and 30 with brown hair and a stocky build.

It comes after a string of assaults on lone women, each of whom said their attacker spoke in a Spanish accent and was wearing a beanie hat and a rucksack.

Three lone women were sexually assaulted within the space of nine hours on one night, Scotland Yard said.

In the first attack, a victim in her early 30s was approached near a bus stop in Chiswick High Road at around 8.15pm on Friday, November 14.

The man told the woman that he was lost and asked her to show him to a bus stop. He then sexually assaulted her before running off as she fought back.

Later that night, a woman in her mid-30s was approached as she got out of a taxi near The George pub in Chiswick High Road at around 2am on Saturday, November 15.

Her attacker started speaking to her in Spanish as she walked along Dukes Avenue near Hadley Gardens before following her into Barrowgate Drive.

The woman was then pushed to the ground and sexually assaulted. Her attacker ran away as she fought back, police said.

Within three hours on the same night, at around 5am, a woman in her mid-20s heard footsteps behind her as she walked to work along Ravenscourt Park.

A man matching the description given by the other women of their attacker caught up with her and spoke to her in Spanish before sexually assaulting her and running away.

Around two weeks later, on Sunday, November 30, a woman in her late 30s got off a bus in Turnham Green Terrace at around 3am.

She was approached of a man speaking Spanish and matching other victims’ descriptions of their attacker as she walked from Chiswick High Road into Dukes Avenue.

The woman was then sexually assaulted in Sharon Road before the man was disturbed by a member of the public.

After the assaults, police warned women against walking alone at night and wearing headphones while walking in the area. Officers also advised people to carry mobile phones or personal alarms.

Detectives today issued an e-fit of a man they want to question in connection with all four of the attacks.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Broom said: “I want the public’s help to find this man. It is a very clear e-fit and someone will know who he is. Each of the women he has approached has fought him off and on occasion he was disrupted by a member of the public, preventing him from continuing the assault.

“Fortunately no one has suffered serious injury, but these assaults have been very distressing for all the women.

“Given the similarities of the assaults, the matching descriptions of the man, and the fact he is speaking Spanish on each occasion we are treating these cases as linked. One line of enquiry we are exploring is that he is not Spanish but is using his language skills to help hide his identity.

“My officers are working hard to trace this man, and we want to do that before he has the opportunity to assault another woman. We have increased our highly visible patrols in the areas where we know he operates, and those will continue until he is caught”.