Teenager confirmed as 10th victim of 'trophy rapist'
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
A serial rapist who has been terrorising women in the Home Counties has struck again, police confirmed today.
Detectives said a 14-year-old girl from Stevenage, Herts, who was attacked as she walked home on Friday, was the attacker's 10th known victim.
The man has carried out a string of sex attacks in Surrey, Kent, Berkshire and London over the past 11 months.
The so-called "trophy rapist" - he usually takes an item of clothing from his victims - has targeted women and girls aged between 10 and 52.
It is the first time the rapist has struck north of London.
Kent Assistant Chief Constable David Kelly was speaking at a press conference at Hertfordshire Police headquarters at Welwyn Garden City about the latest attack today.
A Kent Police spokesman said: "It is expected he will confirm that the Stevenage attack is being linked to the other nine.
"It is now the tenth and it takes nto the fifth force area."
Detectives had earlier said the rape of the 14-year-old on a footpath near Collenswood Secondary School showed similarities with the other attacks but until today they had been unable to confirm the link.
In this attack, the teenager was grabbed from behind, dragged into woods at knifepoint and raped.
At a press conference at the Hertfordshire Constabulary headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Assistant Chief Commissioner David Kelly, who is leading the hunt for the rapist, said: "On the evidence we have currently I am convinced that it is the same offender."
But Mr Kelly did not say what evidence there was to link the Stevenage rape to the other nine attacks.
He said police were still waiting for the results of DNA tests to confirm that it was the same man.
Mr Kelly added: "I'm not prepared to go into specific details in terms of the evidence that we have at the moment.
"Certainly we have liaised very carefully with the investigation team. We have evidence that convinces us to link the inquiries at this stage.
"We think it is certainly safer to do that and certainly in the interest of the public, to be able to provide as much safety to the public as we can."
He said he was "hopeful" that the DNA tests would confirm the link.
However he said it was believed that the rapist had not taken any "trophies" from the victim on this occasion - unlike many of the former offences.
"At the moment we do not believe that is the case but it is still a bit early to say because of the state of the victims," he said.
Detective Chief Inspector Tim Stevens said the 14-year-old victim of the latest rape was finding it difficult to cope with the attack.
He told the press conference: "The inquiry team has spoken to the young lady and she is having difficulty as you would expect in coping with what has happened to her.
"This is a young 14-year-old girl and I think that must be absolutely horrible for her.
"I think it is something that is going to take some time for us to talk fully about with her."
He said the rapist may well have suffered scratches to the face and body during the attack, which would identify him to a wife or girlfriend.
"We anticipate that the offender would have been scratched in the attack because he took his victim into closely-knit brambles.
"We will be asking people 'did your partner or husband have marks on him from Friday night, did they return late that night dishevelled or in clothing that was unusual?'."
He said the victim had gained a brief glimpse of the man during the "horrific attack" and could tell that he had a large nose, green or blue eyes and stubble on his face.
Mr Kelly went on to say it was likely the rapist had struck before the latest set of attacks.
"The evidence we have received from psychological profilers is that it would be highly unusual for someone who had not committed previous offences to commit an offence of the type we saw in November last year in the rape of the 10-year-old girl.
"The advice we have had is that he has committed offences in the past, which may or may not be sexual offences, but it would be unlikely if he has not been arrested before and dealt with by the criminal justice system."
He said the inquiry team was seeking information from police, probation officers, or other law enforcement officials who may have dealt with him previously.
"It is very likely that he will have exhibited violence in relationships beforehand, so we would appeal to partners or ex-partners.
"He may well be living on his own now but there will be people who know him, who associate with him, it may be just having a drink in the pub."
The rapist was also not afraid to take risks, Mr Kelly said.
"You would think, and I am sure a number of women have thought, that if they are walking their dogs they are fairly safe.
"That is not the case. This man had taken risks and by the nature of the locations he has chosen he is not averse to being disturbed."
Mr Kelly issued a further appeal for information to catch the rapist before he struck again.
"I am convinced that someone in the community has a name for this man and we ask them to come forward as quickly as possible.
"This man's rapes are horrible offences by any definition, the rape of children, girls of 10, 12, 13 or 14-years-old, right up to a woman of 52.
"This is a man who is more than likely to strike again and we need the public's assistance to catch him as quickly as we can."