Teenage girl kidnapped and raped on her way to school
Police hunt two men in silver car who snatched victim from busy street in morning rush hour
POLICE were last night hunting two sex attackers after a schoolgirl was abducted from a busy street in Oxford and raped.
Parents were advised not to let children walk alone and police increased patrols outside schools in the university city.
Head teachers urged pupils to take extra care as detectives launched a “very large investigation” into the attack. It is feared the culprits may have struck before.
Extra police patrols would continue for “as long as it takes” to catch the attackers, officers said.
One line of inquiry was whether yesterday morning’s assault may be linked to a recent attack on a 19-yearold woman a mile away.
The 14-year-old victim was driven off and assaulted in the car by two men, before she was found nearly four hours later a mile away.
Thames Valley Police said she was wearing school uniform when she was taken at 8.25am by two white men in a silver hatchback car, possibly a Volkswagen, from the area around the busy junction of Marston Ferry Road and Banbury Road in the north of the city.
The victim did not know her attackers and may have been “hugged” to get her into the car.
She was found by officers about a mile away, at midday after she had knocked on nearby houses seeking help. Builders working close by said they had seen her sitting on a wall before police and an ambulance arrived. Detectives said the girl is believed to have been raped inside the car while it was in the Summertown area and police forensics teams were also searching a field and woodland along Marston Brook, close to where she was found. Supt Christian Bunt, police commander for Oxford, said: “This is a very con- cerning incident for all involved and I appreciate that it must be very concerning for the public.
“In light of this we are stepping up patrols in the area to provide reassurance and there will be a very visible po- lice presence whilst the investigation continues.
“I would ask parents to consider the safety of their children and if they are walking to school make sure they try to keep in groups. I would also ask people to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious.”
Fiona Wilkins, owner of a nearby hairdresser, said she would not allow her daughter to walk to school until the attackers had been caught.
She said: “Families are on shutdown. I don’t want my daughter out walking alone – not until they’ve caught them.
“These girls round here are all going to be talking to each other and feeling very frightened.”
There are a number of schools in the vicinity of the area where the girl was taken – including several private schools – and residents said the road would have been very busy at the time.
Val Heigink, 52, a receptionist at a nearby hotel, said: “It is very safe around here and at half eight in the morning is very busy. It’s horrible; totally terrible.”
The attack came just days after an assault on a young woman in nearby Headington. The 19-year-old was attacked by two white men in their late teens or early 20s in the early hours of Sunday morning. She managed to escape after being sexually assaulted.
Det Supt Chris Ward, said: “There are a number of other inquiries going on. One of those is to look at similar or other attacks that have happened.”