5am: Chilling moment that rapist carried victim away to assault her
THIS is the shocking moment a CCTV camera captures a woman being carried off in the arms of a rapist moments before she is brutally attacked.
The 24-year-old victim, her legs dangling limply as the smartly dressed sex attacker lifts her to a darkened side street, is incapable of resisting. Minutes later the shavenheaded man – who swooped as she searched for a taxi home following a night out in Leeds – raped her before fleeing.
Detectives yesterday released the footage in a bid to catch the man, who they believe is either a bouncer or a guest staying at a city centre hotel after a function, before he strikes again.
It has chilling similarities to CCTV circulated two months ago of another rapist carrying his victim across a street in Birmingham.
The Leeds attacker, dressed in a long, dark overcoat, was caught on camera prowling for a victim behind the upmarket Malmaison Hotel shortly before 5am on August 14. Later he found the 24-year-old woman walking to find a taxi in the Kirkgate area, accompanying her along the Briggate shopping street for around ten minutes.
When they reached Dortmund Square he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the scene of the attack on Mark Lane, next to St John’s shopping centre. Detective Superintendent Pat Twiggs, of West Yorkshire Police, said: ‘The footage of the victim being carried off by this man clearly makes for disturbing viewing.
‘We gave very careful consideration to releasing it and secured the consent of the victim, who has been left understandably traumatised by what this man did to her.
‘I think the CCTV gives a really stark illustration of the very serious nature of this offence and we hope it will focus the public’s minds on helping us to identify and trace the man responsible.’
Officers do not know how much force he used but say there was ‘not a lot of resistance from the victim’.
Detectives also want to speak to a white woman wearing a skirt who was approached by the r apist i n Swinegate a f ew minutes earlier. He is seen walking alongside her.
Police describe the man as an ‘imposing figure’, black, aged 30 to 40 and tall. He was wearing a long black overcoat and black trousers. ‘The way the offender is dressed does give him the appearance of a doorman and we have been making extensive enquiries with licensed premises,’ Det Supt Twiggs added. ‘However, there could be other reasons why he was dressed smartly like this.
‘I’m asking people to think about what events there were on in the city that night that he might have been attending dressed l i ke this. He may have been staying at a hotel i n the city centre and we would like to hear from anyone who has information about that.’
Police have obtained DNA evidence from the victim and have warned that the rapist is ‘dangerous’ and needs to be caught as soon as possible. The detective told a press conference that following inquiries he was now ‘fairly happy’ the man was not a local doorman but evidently knew the area well.
He said the victim ‘is quite angry with herself for allowing this to happen’ but insisted: ‘It’s not her fault.’
Det Supt Twiggs added: ‘ The images of this man are very distinctive and we would urge anyone who thinks they know who it is to contact us.’
CCTV footage of the attack in Birmingham, which happened last October, was released in August just over a week after the Leeds assault. It showed a suspected rapist carrying the limp figure of a woman across a road.
West Midlands Police later arrested a man on suspicion of rape after he handed himself in. He was released on bail pending further inquiries.
‘Not a lot of resistance’