...and how MoS tracked down four new witnesses to a vile sex attack
POLICE are to interview new witnesses who heard ‘terrified screams’ on the night murderer Alexander Pacteau was accused of a violent sexual assault.
Detectives will re-visit the scene of the alleged attack in the West End of Glasgow after The Scottish Mail on Sunday tracked down a number of residents who were not questioned by police at the time.
Detective Chief Inspector Allan Burton, who heads up Police Scotland’s major investigations unit, last week called for anyone with new information about the original offence to get in contact.
He suggested that if there was enough new evidence, prosecutors could use double jeopardy laws to take Pacteau back to court for the sex attack.
Now, following extensive enquiries by the MoS, four new witnesses, who were not interviewed at the time, have given dramatic
testimony about the attack – which we have passed to Police Scotland.
The individuals, whose homes all back on to Baliol Lane in the Woodlands area of the city, describe being awoken in the early hours of November 27, 2011 by screams and shouts of ‘please help me’.
One young man, who was just 15 at the time, said he ran outside to see if he could help.
The MoS met detectives on Friday to pass on a dossier of new material gathered by reporters last week.
The force confirmed officers will visit each of the witnesses and pass on all of the new statements to the Crown Office, which has the power to rule if there is enough evidence to re-open the case.
Noreen Akhtar, who was never approached by police to give a statement despite living yards from where the alleged attack took place, remembers being awoken by the young woman’s ‘painful’ screams.
She said: ‘I remember the screaming. It was really loud and it went on for two or three minutes.
‘Me and my husband had been in bed and the screaming had scared me, so I asked him to come and look out of the window with me.
‘It was dark but I remember seeing the police car arriving.’
Another local resident, Stewart Murray, who heard screams outside his window, said: ‘I will do all I can to help get justice for the victim. As a father myself it is important to me that women can feel safe on the street.
‘The lane is used a lot by students but we quickly realised this wasn’t a joke. These were screams of fear.
‘My wife and I were sitting in the back room with the window open and we became aware of a girl shouting “help”.
‘It sounded like someone in distress. It went on for a couple of minutes and I heard “help, help me”.
‘We realised something was wrong and were at the window. At that point we heard a male voice shouting up the lane.
‘My wife went down at that point. She is a nurse and thought she might be able to help.
‘She came back up a while later and told me a girl had been attacked in the lane. The guy got away.’
Another local resident, a 55-year-old mother who asked not to be named, said: ‘It has stayed with me, it was really bad.
‘I feel guilty for not coming forward at the time but I did not know if I could help. I thought the police would come to me if they needed me.
‘I want to help get justice now, if I can. It wasn’t like one continuous scream – it was as if someone tried to pull her or grab her. It was very loud, piercing screaming and went on for a while.
‘We have heard screaming in the past – but this stuck with me.
‘I could hear people talking in the garden. The neighbours came out, so I thought someone was doing something about it.
‘I couldn’t get to sleep that night because it was on my mind and I thought, “I hope to God nothing bad has happened to her”.’
The woman’s 19-year-old student son added: ‘I remember running outside to see what was going on.
‘We heard screams and I ran outside after I heard the garden gate shut – I looked and saw my neighbours running from the left-hand side so I thought they were dealing with it. They had all gathered – I didn’t know what was going on.’