Girl dials 111 during sex attack

A girl secretly phoned 111 and had emergency services on the line as a stranger abducted then sexually attacked her.

A 17-year-old admitted yesterday abducting and strangling a young girl in order to sexually assault her in Barrington Park, Christchurch.

He pleaded guilty to charges of abduction of a girl aged 12 to 16, strangulation, sexual violation, doing an indecent act and theft. He admitted a charge of being unlawfully at a school.

He appeared in Christchurch District Court in front of Judge Michelle Duggan and his lawyer Elizabeth Bulger sought his interim name suppression be continued, which was granted.

The attack happened about 9pm on December 3 – while it was still light, the summary of facts said.

As the victim left her home about 8.25pm to meet friends at a school, she noticed the teen was following her. She left the school about 20 minutes later and noticed him following her again.

She continued walking through Barrington Park and as she approached the green exit gates, just metres from Barrington St, the attacker grabbed her from behind around the neck and covered her mouth.

The attacker told her he had a knife in his pocket and if she screamed, he would kill her, the summary said.

He then asked for her name and age, which she told him. He walked her back across the park, dragged her into a toilet block near an alleyway to Sugden St and closed the door. While walking her across the park he told her: ‘‘Don’t move or scream or I’ll kill you with my knife.’’

He noticed her cellphone and that the emergency services were on the line and trying to speak with her. He took the iPhone (worth $1000) from her.

The summary did not say if the call triggered any emergency response.

He assaulted her then left, slamming the door and causing the victim to be trapped inside the toilet block.

The victim received bruising to her neck, grazes and a sore scalp from her hair being pulled, the summary noted.

He was remanded in custody to May 2. His lawyer told the court: ‘‘this is not a situation where interim suppression should be lifted given how much we don’t know about the defendant’’.