I’ve lost all faith in GMP, says date-attack victim
A WOMAN was dragged from a car, beaten and then abandoned in a street at 3am by her attacker who drove off.
She was assaulted after a night out with friends.
She had met the man who attacked her on an online chat forum.
After being punched she needed hospital treatment for serious facial injuries. But five weeks after the appalling incident, GMP have not taken any action even though she has provided a name and details of the suspect.
The victim has made a formal complaint to the force.
A police chief has now apologised for delays in investigating the case and said a senior officer would be contacting the victim.
The woman’s ordeal began on the evening of September 17 when she met friends for drinks at a venue in Worsley, Salford. She had travelled with them from her home in Cheshire and had also invited a man she had been talking to online in a group chat.
The victim, who has asked not to be named, said: “The evening was fine. I had a few drinks and he had a couple. He had booked a hotel locally but at the end of the night he said he would drive me home and my friends were returning to my house in another car.”
She added: “We left the place and went off walking to his car. He said he couldn’t find it. We must have spent 15 minutes looking for it. I had a bit of a go at him saying ‘how can you not know where you have put your car.’
“He told me to get an Uber. I said ‘no, the least you can do is take me home.’ What kind of person leaves a girl alone at 2.30am in Salford?”
They eventually found the car, which was near the venue where they had spent the evening. The victim says they got into the vehicle but after driving only a short distance her date became aggressive and told her to get out of the car.
She said: “I was on the phone to my friend telling her we were heading back and he was being rude to her. He stopped the car, and was trying to grab hold of my legs. He then grabbed my hair. I came out of the car and said ‘what the f*** do you think you are doing?’ He then punched me a couple of times in the face. He hit me again when I was on the ground. My skin was broken. In my book it was GBH. He then drove off and I was in despair because my phone was still in his car being charged.”
Unbeknown to the victim the attacker had hurled her phone from his car and a few minutes later she heard it ringing in the road where she had been abandoned.
She managed to call her friend who drove back to rescue her and she took selfies of her injuries at the time she was left – 2.50am on September 18.
She had been left in the driveway of Broad Oak Park Garden Centre on Worsley Road.
The victim, aged 36, said: “I’m embarrassed. I should have known better than to jump in a car with a man I don’t know.”
A week after the attack the victim says the alleged culprit rang her up. She said: “He claimed he had never laid a finger on anyone. I told him he would be hearing from the police.”
She was later told by a friend that the same man had consequently been on an online streaming room chatting up another woman. To recover from her ordeal the victim went to her parents home in Yorkshire. She said a few days later she gave a threehour phone interview to police in Yorkshire. “I later checked and found out that GMP had received that phone interview on September 23. Since then nothing has happened. It was soul destroying. I was prepared to let it go in the end because I was sick and tired of
the police not doing anything. I lost all faith in them.”
She made a formal complaint to GMP earlier this month.
The victim’s ex husband, who looked after her and stayed with her at Salford Royal Hospital and later Stepping Hill Hospital on the night of the attack, said: “I am dismayed at the police response. My ex is a lovely, wonderful person. She is not aggressive and for this to happen is heartbreaking. She would never provoke anyone. I think the police were negligent and most importantly I want this guy arrested.”