Women in fear after two more sex attacks
Monday 30th August 2010, 2:30PM BST.
PC Mauger, centre, with, left to right, civil defence volunteers Joe Maloret, Graham Williams, Scott Le Page and Russell Corbet looking for evidence in a car park near Bosq Lane, scene of one of the early-hour sex attacks. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 1018103)
TWO further sex attacks in the early hours of Saturday have left women fearing for their safety in Town at night.
One of the assaults was in Forest Lane, the same place a lone female was attacked just over a month ago. Police, who were in Town on Friday night looking for the attacker, are linking these assaults.
The second assault was in Bosq Lane and is not being linked.
The Forest Lane incident took place at 2.45am. The woman was walking up the narrow alley when she was attacked by a 5ft 5in to 5ft 8in tall man. He was described as Mediterranean or olive-skinned and was wearing a light-coloured shirt or T-shirt with dark jeans. He had dark hair and was aged between 28 and 30.
The second assault happened in a private car park next to Bosq Lane. The exact time is not certain, but it is thought to have occurred between midnight and 3.25am. The attacker is described as white, 6ft tall with a bald, shaven head. He was of thin, muscular build. His accent was thought to be local.
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What, exactly, is a “sex attack”? Is it simply an alias for Rape? If so, what is wrong with plain english?
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It beggars belief after all the publicity regarding previous assaults, that a women walks alone in the forest lane at 02.45 in the morning.i do hope they catch him soon and he gets his due comeuppance.
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Cher Eugene – you said -
“What, exactly, is a “sex attack”? Is it simply an alias for Rape? If so, what is wrong with plain english?”
tell me why is it important for you to know the details?
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If you dont read the Press or listen to local radio or tv its possible to not know about it.Also a lot of people in Guernsey do not speak much english.
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Walk home could get attack, get a taxi once again could get attack (remember the girl around christmas,) get a lift with a friend give then £5 for there trouble and to help with petrol they get done! Cant win. Stay in and live in fear your whole life.
Quick point here I got attack by a man with olive-skin walking up the grange a couple of years ago. Thankful nothing to bad happened. I went to the police in the morning and they were very keen to find out what he looked like saying there had been many similar reports!
What about getting some GOOD CCVT in town one when the people dont look fussy and could be anyone. You cant tell me there isnt CCTV out there that can do this, we pay enough in tax something should be done so we feel safe. There NO point putting in CCTV which isnt good enough to catch them thats just a waste of our money.
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blah
Sorry mate,but you’re pop at Cher Eugene smacks of wanting to start an argument for the sheer sake of it.
Whether it was a grope or rape let’s hope he is caught very soon but euphemisms such as sex attack merely add to the confusion
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So there’s a police presence then is there? Where exactly? Certainly doesn’t seem to have been around the Forest Lane area.
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There were attacks last year no body got caught and you can’t justify it by saying that they shouldn’t have walked home on their own or that route. Town is full of allyways and steps etc with houses near them that mean people need to walk those ways to get home sometimes not by choice. When was the last time you saw a policeman on the beat late at night not in a van or car but walking. Around my house I saw two patrolling about a year ago. Please Guernsey police reinstate the three nightly beats around town it may give St Peter Port resisdents a bit of reassurance.
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is it about time with all these guest workers coming into our island they should be vetted.lets face it ,this person attacking young girls has got a serious problem, at least the police would have the imformation,if some one had been convicted of simler offences,
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It’s a very sad state of affairs when the Chief Inspector of Guernsey says that our streets are not safe. What is going on to our supposedly safe island?!
I must say, although I am pretty pro-police I do wonder why (if the attacks are happening in the same area) are they not either A – patrolling it, B – putting CCTV up there, or C – hiding in wait somehow for this creature to strike again and get him before another person is attacked. I’m sure there is a good reason but maybe they should address that
Hopefully this scumbag(s) gets caught soon though, maybe has done to him in jail as he’s been doing to innocent people in the street
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Well done katie
It took only seven posts to get to the point of asking why the Police were not on the spot to prevent it happening
Perhaps the Police were still dealing with the seventy odd other incidents reported over that weekend
I doubt if 300 Police would be enough to station a PC at every corner,alley,blind spot etc in St Peter Port
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All the people saying about getting CCTV installed and all of that,
it’s obvious that if they did install CCTV there would be protests immdediatly about people’s privacy invasion.
It’s something that could easily cause a lot of hassle, now obviously i’m not saying that something doesnt need to be done; but really, if we just install CCTV in St peter port [ aside from what i already mentioned] then the attacker could easily catch wind of this, move to another parish? Or we put CCTV on the whole island, how much would that cost? Are we really in the sort of financial situation where we can afford to do that?
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Ray
I didn’t say that the police had to be in the exact spot did I?
I’m merely saying that, as had been promised, there should have been a greater police presence. If there had been officers on foot patrol then maybe this man would have thought twice.Or been caught. Also are the police incapable of prioritising? Let’s hope there are no further attacks or, even worse, a murder before this situation is taken more seriously.
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Sad as it is, people need to take responsibility for their own safety, stay in groups, get a lift etc etc although I appreicate it is not always possible and some people live up dark alleys etc.
Sadly I saw no “marked” police patrolling the street, but I did see 2 vans with 2 to 4 officers in each van, following each other around town on sat nite. I stress the marked as I do think we have to consider the fact that there are hopefully a unmarked officers (plain clothes for the people that need it in simple english) all out in the problem areas hoping to catch the offender red handed.
We are all in this together, and I hope that if anyone out there knows anything or sees anything suspicious, they will contact the authorities and help them bring this spate of attacks to an abrupt end.
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OK, perspective first.
Young “ladies” walking alone in town ( or anywhere ) at 2.30am or similiar, no doubt had a couple of lemonades , given the current drinking culture , and probably wearing not much more than a handbag. Its a sad fact that ALL of those are contributory. IN NO WAY am I justifying what has happened but it is a sign of the ( rather bad ) times we are now living in.
The blame lies with the Police force not publicising the first 2 attacks earlier, the perpertrator then thought , ” hey that’s good – i got away with it” I can do it again.
CCTV should be installed , without realising it you are on camera many hundreds of times a day so whats the difference ? look at all the traffic light cameras, shop window cameras , petrol station camera etc.
There is nothing to worry about if you are innocent and staying legal , every transaction you make with a card is logged, every time you use your mobile even for a text message they can pinpoint your moves to the inch , you go on cctv to enter a bar/pub/club.
Message ? LOOK AFTER YOURSELF !! , Drink sensibly , dress properly and not provocatively and use COMMON SENSE , what happened to those rape alarm things you used to be able to buy ? if i remember rightly they were about the same price as a Vodka and Coke and were even in the old Pound World not so long ago.
Finally, and this is NOT a jibe at any racial background , but the number of “true” guernsey names appearing for violent / abusive convictions is very low compared to others , is there any form of background check performed for immigration or is that one step too far ?
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Hang on Geezerboy – you are assuming that the attacker/s are not local. This is a seriously stupid assumption. How exactly would you “vet” guest workers? Perhaps get a sample of DNA when they walk through customers per chance? The police obviously have some DNA already – So how about testing all local men from the age of 16 upwards? I wonder how this would go down with our local lads?
it is a sad state of affairs when a girl cannot walk home alone through our streets without being molested – but unfortunately we need to take more care now and be more “street safe”.
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If anyone gets grabbed by this pervert grab his nuts, squeeze hard and twist. I`ll bet he let`s go pretty damn quickly and let`s out a bigger scream than you do. Once you`ve got him on his knees stick your knee firmly in his teeth to give the police something to look out for. You may be small and petit but believe me your hands will be big enough to do serious damage.
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If its not safe for young ladies to walk home on there own, and not safe to get a taxi, { i new the young lady who was assaulted in a taxi} Then would nt it be a good idea to run a late night bus like they used to do years ago, we all want our precious island back how it used to be, and we could get the guernsey boys as security??
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when i walk home, i carry my keys in my hand, with 1 between my fingers just incase, but are you saying, these girls were not heard shouting, if they did??, or even try to attack back. sorry but i know i would fight back, but then again thats my bouetian blood
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geezerboy – you have no evidence whatsoever this person is a ‘guest worker’.
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Toady,
define provocative.
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blah,
decribed, mediterranean, olive skin, its not rocket science?. police or border guards as the customs are now called, would be able to check any criminal records, a bit like they do in the u s a,
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Give these women some tazers ! that should sort it ….
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Toady – i do not agree with a single one of your comments.
Girls should stop dressing how they want then? Should we follow the likes of Saudi Arabia? and where exactly does it say that any of the girls attacked were dressed in nothing more than a handbag?
i am a 21 year old girl and when i go out on the town i don’t dress like you are suggesting and neither do a lot of girls.
Re your point regarding the attackers to be immigrants, if you read the full story you’ll note that one of the attackers from last weekend was describe to have had a LOCAL accent. The taxi driver who assaulted the girl was LOCAL. My friend who got assaulted in July was a 27 year old LOCAL guy.
Please do not speculate when you don’t have the facts.
I would say though that i would not walk up Forest Lane at 11pm when i was sober let alone 3am drunk, it does surprise me the amount of girls i see walking home alone when i get a taxi in the early hours.
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I’m astounded at the amount of woman who say they’ll fight back etc, not just on here but in general conversation.Until you are attacked you dont know how you’ll react!!! Some people freeze and are incapable of doing anything ,others may ‘comply’ for fear of their lives.Yes some will fight back but the attacker has the upperhand with the surprise of the attack and the fear in you.As for screaming, how many kids larking around scream for the fun of it, if these poor woman were heard it was probably dismissed as just that. Again fear may have literally paraylsed the voice.
I fear there will be more attacks with attitudes like this, no matter how rough and tough you think you are when sheer panic and fear take hold theres no knowing what you’re reactions will be.
However someone must have suspicions as to who this attacker/s are, keeping quiet makes you just as guilty so do the right thing and inform the police.
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Good post Missy.
Ayotollah Toady, do you live in the same island as me?
Pick up any paper and the crimes are generally of local origin.
And I’m sure the girls can defend themselves here, but the thrust of your argument does appear to suggest that clubbers wearing short skirts are inviting sexual assaults.
Are you seriously suggesting that wearing a short skirt is provocative and inviting a sexual assault?
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Guernsey has a very serious problem with drinking – particularly amongst young girls. Has anyone ventured into town late at night on a Friday or Saturday and seen the state of the ‘kids’ in town? Many of them are seriously underage and many of them are completely plastered. They carry fake ID’s and nearly all of them know which places to go to where they serve underage drinkers. Add this mix to them all trying to get home when they can hardly stand and you can begin to see what you are dealing with. It is time the police and the Doctors who deal with the aftermath got together to come up with a way of dealing with the terrible state Guernsey has got itself into. You do not go abroad and see hundreds of drunk French, Italians or Dutch teenagers. It is a British problem and is worse in Guernsey than many places in the UK. Also where are the parents of these youngsters – unavailable to give them a lift home – because they have probably been drinking too! I have teenagers and it has never ceased to amaze me how little many parents know about where there kids are or what they are doing. No-one seems to ‘dis-approve’ of anything these days and our teenagers are paying the price for it. Many of these young girls go home and sleep with complete strangers anyway – showing no concern for their well-being morally or their sexual health. If you think I am exaggerating then you should talk to your teenagers and find out what town ‘nightlife’ is really like. We all need to stop being ostriches. It must be very depressing being a police officer and dealing with this stuff every week-end. Do something about it!
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Well im very sad that this is going on in our island . I never used to be worried at all about walking home on my own. If it is someine who is not local he better get a long stint in jail and then deported and not allowed to return’ but alas i now what will happen he will go to court get community service if not be out in a few months and then back to same ways again. its always the same on this island witch is unfortunat but nothin we can do about it . JUSTICE dont exit on this island if your face fits !!!!!!
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Can anyone tell me why a taxi driver refused to drop a girl off from the taxi rank at the roundabout to hauteville on the basis that it was “too short” a journey on Saturday night?
Where in the taxi driving manual does it state how long a journey needs to be, and surely when police are urging girls (and guys) to be responsible for their own safety, the taxi drivers should do the same!
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What are you trying to get at queen bee
As a parent I know what my children are up to so don’t class all these girls as sleeping around.
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If underage girls ( and boys) are getting drunk in Town who is serving them ?
The Police only need to close down one establishment for a week or two to get all the other pubs and clubs to toe the line on serving under age drinkers
No good saying older kids buy it for them .. it is the publican’s responsibility. No good saying they get tanked up at home before going out .. if they’re drunk when they enter the pub show them the door
Get a couple of young PC’s up from Jersey to go undercover for a weekend every now and then
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Dog lover – If you read my post carefully you will realise that I did not class ALL the girls as sleeping around, nor would I. I am merely trying to get the message across that Guernsey is not as nice a place as some people may think. Try walking down the high street at midnight and see what you think. It is eye-opening.
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How about I dress up as a lady and walk about late at night with a rather large torch under my coat.
When they attack I hit them with my torch and drag them back to the Police station?
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@Anna
For me to define “provocative”, all you need to do is go to any of the numerous fast food venues at the weekend , to see what i mean.
Having had many years on the nightclub/discoteque scene ( that gives you a vague idea of my age ) I have never ever seen so many young “ladies” wearing no underwear, blind drunk, eating their chips and cheese while displaying shall we say , far too much while squatting and also urinating in the door ways. Very often the same people stop cars asking for “fun” in return for a lift home.
Am certainly no prude but there is a time and place for everything , and Forest Lane is a place that is well known area for “relief”. I used to work in that area and have seen the proof on many many occasions, and YES I was in the licensed trade so you know where I was based about 10 years ago. There are CCTV cameras operated by a couple of businesess in that lane , has anyone considered that thought about finding out the attackers ?
I hope the people who carried out these attacks get their just desserts, just make yourself safe as possible
Its just common sense
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Difficult to comment on Queenbee’s “sleeping around” comment, as that’s not easily visible, but her comments on the drinking culture which has developed here are spot on. We’ve all seen those TV documentaries about British holidaymakers in Mediterranean resorts. A Channel TV documentary on St Peter Port and St Helier (which is arguably even worse than here) at midnight would be equally disturbing. Over here, all you need to do is locate yourself near the States Tourism Office or outside the White Hart between midnight and 2am to see how bad the problem is.
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Spring Heeled Jack strikes again,exactly how far is Forest Lane from the nearest Five O HQ ?
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David,
if you think St. Helier is “arguably even worse than here” you’ve never been in St. Helier on a weekend night!
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Jumping on the “background check for foreigners” debate…
I know a couple of the larger importers of foreign workers on the island perform thorough background checks including police reports prior to flying the workers over.
I’m pretty sure its not the case for every single imported worker, it depends who brings them over but in the majority of cases they have been checked.
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Andy-
The rapist would be out of jail before you!
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Toni Bandinee – it’s a minute walk down one hill from Forest Lane to the Police station. Says it all doesn’t it.
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Toni Bandinee and Missy
No doubt the last victim would have been so pleased to have had the advantage of your 20/20 hindsight
Can you advise me of the score of tonight’s England game by 3pm so that I can get a bet on?
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Seriously , as the alleged culprit is now in custody exactly what I have been saying all along is coming to make sense.
the young “ladies” description was of a “mediterranean origin male approx 28-30 years old”
yet apparantly the alleged culprit is local and 18 ???
leaves the question of those alleged “victims” sobriety at the time of the alleged offence
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Kevin
Yes I have – very recently in fact. Are you saying that its not even arguable that St Helier is worse? If so then I’d be inclined to agree with you!
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