Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Stalker raped woman protected by police

Will Bennett
Monday 29 January 1996 19:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A stalker who had been following a woman for four months raped her in her own home in a violent attack which lasted two hours despite the fact that she was supposed to be under police protection.

The victim, a young mother in her thirties who lives near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was badly injured during the rape and was so traumatised she was unable to tell police about it for more than a week.

Yesterday Cambridgeshire Police defended their protection operation and Detective Superintendent Tony Rogers, the officer leading the inquiry, said that he was "comfortable" with the way they had handled the inquiry.

He refused go into details about the security measures but the woman was not under 24 hour guard and is thought to have been given an alarm which she could set off if she felt threatened.

The stalker calls himself Chuck, which is possibly short for Charles, and is believed to come from the Huntingdon area. He is described as white, aged 28 to 30, six feet tall with brown shoulder-length hair and a ring in his left ear.

The rape was the culmination of a campaign of terror which began when the woman was having a cup of coffee at a hotel last September. The stalker approached and made a pass.

Over the next four months he regularly followed her and twice confronted her. Once he accosted her in Huntingdon and just before Christmas he approached her outside her home and punched her in the head, knocking her to the ground. He also sent her threatening letters and left answerphone messages.

Detective Superintendent Rogers said: "On 16 January the woman was at home around lunchtime when the same man entered her home and carried out a sexual attack on her which I can only describe as frenzied."

Matt Tapp, spokesman for Cambridgeshire Police, said: "We had in place a range of security measures which we had agreed with her were sufficient.This did not include 24 hour protection but there were arrangements for her to contact us at a moment's notice."

Living nightmare, page 3

Leading article, page 14

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in