DETECTIVES are today scouring cctv footage from around an Ipswich nightclub, in the hunt for four men involved in the abduction and rape of an Ipswich teenager.
DETECTIVES are today scouring cctv footage from around an Ipswich nightclub, in the hunt for four men involved in the abduction and rape of an Ipswich teenager.
As later editions of the Evening Star revealed yesterday , the 19-year-old was attacked shortly after leaving Kartouche nightclub in Princes Street.
Today safety advisers spoke out to warn women not to walk home alone, without taking precautions to safeguard their personal security.
The victim was approached by an Asian-looking man, as she made her way towards Ipswich railway station on Friday at 2.40am. As the man tried to start up a conversation with her, an accomplice joined him.
The pair bundled the woman down an alleyway leading to the car park behind Kartouche where another two men in a white car were waiting. She was pushed into the rear of the vehicle before it was driven off towards Stoke Park.
The gang drove the woman to the Downside Close area where one of the men raped her in the vehicle.
Detective Inspector John Quinton has appealed for anyone who was in either Princes Street or Downside Close area of Ipswich in the early hours of Friday morning, to come forward.
The four men responsible for the incident are described as being aged in their 20s. Three spoke with London accents, one was of Asian appearance and the other three were white. The vehicle was a small white four-door car.
It is the second time in two years that a woman has been raped after leaving Kartouche, and detetcives have studied cctv footage.
On July 28, 2001, another 19-year-old was befriended by a man who told her he would take her to the Copdock interchange as she was due to get a lift from there to Colchester where she lived. However the man led her to a lane near the former Paul's Sports and Social Club in Stone Lodge Lane where he raped her.
A spokesman for Nightsafe, which aims to make night life safer in Ipswich highlighted five points to remember. Today urged women to tale control of their nights out.
He said people should always be prepared by planning how to get home, act confident, not take risks, and not ignore their instincts. He also recommended the nightbus operates every Friday and Saturday night in Ipswich, with all buses leaving from the Cattle Market bus station and Cardinal Park.
Anyone with information about the latest attack should telephone Detective Sergeant Duncan Sheppard at Ipswich CID on 01473 383132 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
Weblinks:
www.nightsafe.co.uk
www.crime-reduction.co.uk/personalsafety
www.suzylamplugh.org/advice/clubbing
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