Hospital patients questioned in rape hunt
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Police investigating the rape at a London hospital of a grandmother dying from cancer believe her attacker may have been a fellow patient.
The 71-year-old woman was being treated at King's College Hospital when she was attacked and raped in a cubicle yards from her bed in the early hours of 1 May. The attacker followed her into a lavatory, pushed her to the floor and assaulted her. Police say the man then ran from the ward.
His victim was so shocked by her ordeal that she did not tell anyone for four weeks. She only revealed what had happened when talking to a doctor.
Detectives investigating the case spent yesterday examining CCTV tapes and interviewing patients and staff members at the hospital in Denmark Hill, south London. Detective Superintendent Jim Webster said the woman had described her attacker as a white man in his 50s. He said of the victim: "She was very seriously ill and she is still ill, but is now with her family. The victim and her family are all traumatised by this and we have a dedicated team of officers with them.
"I've been involved in rape allegations for 20 years; there are cases that stop you in your tracks and this is one of those cases. All the officers dealing with this matter are affected by it and feel personally involved in proving this matter."
Officers from the Forensic Science Service, Scotland Yard's Operation Sapphire group, which deals exclusively with sex crimes, and the Serious Crime Group are working on the case. Det Supt Webster said detectives were having to proceed carefully when interviewing patients.
"This is a very sensitive matter, other patients on the ward are elderly," he said. "We have a definitive list of patients and we are eliminating them. The hospital is being very co- operative, but clearly we have to be sensitive."
Detectives are looking for potential suspects among patients and staff, but Det Supt Webster said they were also checking security arrangements to see whether the rapist could have got into the hospital from outside. "We have to consider whether that could have happened. It's a very big complex in a busy part of London, so we have to look at that," he said. "There are security measures in that ward, as there are around the building. We are looking at when and how it was locked and at what stages."
Det Supt Webster said the attack had been "relatively short" and he conceded that scientific evidence could have been lost because of the delay in reporting it. "Forensic evidence is very important in rape cases and the time between incidents and reports is always important," he said.
He added: "We are not at this stage investigating any similar matters, but we will investigate anything else brought to our attention."