Girl of 17 sexually assaulted by three men in one hour
A 17-YEAR- OLD schoolgirl walking home from a night out with friends was sexually assaulted by three different men in the space of an hour.
Police launched an appeal yesterday to catch the three separate attackers who took advantage of the intoxicated teenager after she became separated from her friends
The girl, who was described as a good pupil from a loving family, had been drinking with friends at a nightclub in east London.
Officers believe she may have had her drink spiked at the club in Tower Hamlets, causing her to become dazed and unsteady on her feet.
The teenager left the nightclub on her own to walk home at around 11.30pm on a Friday night.
At 11.55pm she was seen on CCTV being carried into a doorway by an unknown man who tore off the top half of her clothing and carried out a serious sexual assault, before fleeing minutes later.
Not long after midnight the partially clothed girl was picked up by another CCTV camera a mile away stumbling down a street as she was followed by a different man with a racing bicycle.
The second attacker, who was bearded wearing a distinctive baseball cap, followed the teenager as she headed towards Bethnal Green station before pulling her down a secluded street and attacking her.
A short time later the man was seen walking away, leaving the girl in an extremely distressed state with her clothing still dishevelled.
A few minutes later, a group of men came across the girl sitting on a kerb in between some cars and one of the men sexually assaulted her. He then casually strolled away with just a single backwards glance.
After the final assault, a member of the public spotted the girl lying on the ground sobbing and called the police.
Police believe all three attacks – which happened between 11.55pm on September 29 and 12.55am the following morning – took place after the men chanced upon the lone female.
Yesterday Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Neil Rawlinson said: ‘The victim and her mother are completely distraught about what happened.
‘She is very traumatised and there are gaps in her memory. It’s a trauma that you would not wish on anyone ... This young lady appears to be a good child studying at school, she comes from a loving family. When you look at the CCTV to see what happened to her it is the most horrific set of circumstances for anyone and for her to be attacked by three people in the space of an hour is just unbelievable.’ Officers are now con- ducting toxicology tests to determine if the girl was drugged at the club, although they do not believe her attackers were at the club with her.
Police said the first suspect wore dark clothing, while the second was wearing a backwards baseball cap, a hooded zip jacket and a plain t- shirt with dark trousers. The third man is said have a distinctive gait, which gave him the appearance of walking unevenly.
Detective Inspector Suzanne Jordan, of the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said: ‘This is a horrific multiple sexual assault on a young female who was simply making her way home after a night out. We believe two of the three were very serious sexual assaults indeed, and are determined to catch the persons responsible for these hideous crimes.
‘I would urge anyone who recognises either male in these images to contact us as a matter of urgency. We’d also like to speak to any witnesses who haven’t already come forward, or anyone with any information at all however insignificant they believe it might be.’
‘Horrific set of circumstances’