'I was raped at knife point for an hour - I'm begging attacker to come forward'

07 January 2024 , 19:10

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Twenty years after her ordeal, the victim is still seeking justice (file image) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A woman who was raped at knifepoint in an hour-long ordeal has begged her attacker to make it his New Year's resolution to come forward - two decades on.

The survivor exclusively told the Mirror her attacker has "escaped justice for long enough" and his friends and family also have a responsibility to help police. Detectives reissued an artist’s impression of their suspect last summer when the Mirror led a campaign for the woman to finally see justice - on the 20-year anniversary of the offence, which has changed the victim's life significantly.

Addressing her attacker from her home in Tyne and Wear, the woman, now 37, said: "You have had a significant impact on someone's life. You have tried to get away for long enough. He has escaped justice for long enough. So make it your New Year's resolution to come forward now. It is time to do the right thing, because you have had a huge impact on my life... Someone out there must know something too, and they'll have this on their conscience so come forward now."

Northumbria Police have issued this e-fit of the attacker

The thug picked up and lifted the victim, then just 16, from a public footpath and into bushes, and brandished a blade before subjecting her to the terror in Washington Village, Tyne and Wear, on July 22, 2003. The woman, who cannot be named, had got off the bus at a nearby stop, which was the first time and last time she did this, but minutes later was set upon by the thug. He threatened her, calling her vile profanities, as he took her virginity.

Northumbria Police launched a large-scale operation to try to identify the attacker, with detectives conducting more than 500 house-to-house inquiries, taking more than 350 statements and circulating the artist’s impression of the suspect. While there have been a number of public appeals for information, no one has yet been brought to justice.

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The attack happened in Washington Village in woodland off a footpath connecting residential roads

And, at the victim's request, the appeal was renewed by police two decades on after the anniversary in July. The Mirror led the campaign and has continued it now, at the turn of the year, as an officer has reminded the attacker it is "never too late" to confess.

Speaking to the Mirror, Detective Chief Inspector John Connolly, of Northumbria Police’s Safeguarding Department, said: "The victim in this case has shown huge courage and we remain committed to bringing her the justice she deserves. We’d again appeal to anyone who has information which they think could assist our enquiries to contact us. If you know anything regarding the case, no matter how small or insignificant you feel it may be, it could prove vital in helping us to trace the offender. Please do the right thing and get in touch, it’s never too late to do so."

Last year, Detective Inspector Alan Cairns, of Northumbria Police, appealed for fresh information. In his plea then, Det Insp Cairns had stressed his force believed "someone could still hold the key" to finally changing the woman's life and giving her justice. He said the attacker left the scene in a mahogany-coloured car following the sustained attack. The e-fit shows a white man, wearing a cap and a jacket or coat with a distinctive collar.

Detective Inspector Alan Cairns, of Northumbria Police, has appealed for fresh information (Newcastle Chronicle)

Recalling the terror, the rape survivor said: "He said, basically, 'unless you do what I want you to do, then I will kill you'. So from then, he held a knife to my throat... I had a black cardigan on, and he tied that around my head and said 'not to move'. I ran home and told my mam what had happened and she told the police... Now I think it's more about the everlasting impact it has on your life - where you go, who you go with. which way you go, how you get there. How are you getting back? What time do you go?

"I wake every day and pray that an offender will be caught, so that I can feel that someone has been made accountable for the horrendous impact this has had on my life. So please help me to find this man, who has not yet paid for his actions 20 years on. I need this case kept alive, so he knows this is not forgotten. Someone out there must know something and if you do, please come forward to help me to find justice."

The victim noted the sex fiend had a Wearside, local accent, and appeared to know the area to have been able to quickly drag her to such a secluded spot. She said: "It was almost planned. It was premeditated, it was almost as if he was there waiting. It was very much a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But also it very risky because it was daylight, it was summer, it was around 8pm so still bright."

Anyone with information should call 101 or use the report tool on the Northumbria Police website, quoting log number NP-20230721-0267.

Bradley Jolly