Suspect hunted over three rapes in just four days
‘Extremely dangerous’
A TATTOOED fugitive being hunted in connection with the abduction and rape of two women is also wanted by police over a rape four days earlier.
Joseph McCann, 34, was named yesterday as a suspect after the women, who are in their 20s, were snatched 12 hours apart from separate London streets.
They were kept in the attacker’s car for hours last Thursday but escaped in Watford after hitting him with a vodka bottle.
Hertfordshire Police confirmed last night that McCann, who is described as dangerous, was already being sought following the rape of a 21-year-old woman abducted in Watford at 3.30am the previous Sunday.
In 2008, McCann was jailed indefinitely, with a minimum of 30 months, for a burglary in Bedfordshire during which he threatened an 85-year- old man with a knife. He was released on licence in 2017 but had been recalled for breaching his parole terms.
Scotland Yard last night announced a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to an arrest and prosecution.
In the April 21 incident, the woman was forced into a blue Ford Mondeo at knifepoint and driven around for six hours, during which she was raped. The attack was reported to police the next day and McCann was identified as a suspect.
Last Thursday he was pictured on CCTV at a hotel in the Watford area at about 1pm. He tried to book a room while his two alleged victims cowered in his car.
The first woman had been taken from Chingford, northeast London, at 12.30am. The second was abducted in Edgware, north London, at 12.15pm. The women – one of whom is understood to be pregnant – escaped at 2.30pm.
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin, from the Metropolitan Police’s homicide and major crime command, said: ‘We would ask anyone with information about McCann’s whereabouts to contact us immediately. McCann is considered extremely dangerous and a risk to the public and we ask people not to approach him but instead call 999. ‘If you wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.’
McCann has links to Watford, Aylesbury and Ipswich. Known to use false names, most recently Joel, he is muscular, 5ft 10in, with blue eyes, a bald head or shaved blond hair and a light-coloured short beard.
He has a slight Irish accent and ‘Bobbie’ tattooed on his stomach.
Police are trying to trace a silver or grey Ford S-Max people carrier that had false number plates. A man aged 33 arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to rape has been released under investigation.