Police today revealed they are hunting for a ‘white man’ after a woman was gang raped in an Oxfordshire churchyard – but failed to describe the other suspects involved.
The woman, in her 30s, was attacked at St Mary’s Church’s churchyard in Banbury, and in the surrounding area of the market town centre on Sunday morning.
A female ‘Good Samaritan’ is believed to have helped the victim as she was preyed upon by the gang of men, and police are hoping she will come forward to help identify the suspects.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) Cherwell, the local force covering Banbury, has confirmed ‘one of the offenders is said to be a white man’.
But the force has not revealed any descriptions of the other men – or how many were involved in the ‘horrific’ attack.
They say they only have one description relating to the white man and are ‘working tirelessly to identify the offenders and will share more with the public as soon as we can’.
It comes after police came under fire from Banbury locals for not revealing a description of the attackers, who are still at large.
Last summer, riots across England and Northern Ireland were partly fuelled by misinformation on social media, which wrongly claimed the Southport triple murder suspect was an illegal immigrant.
In recent months, police have been inconsistent on disclosing the ethnicity of a suspect. When a car ploughed into Liverpool FC’s trophy parade in May, police rushed to say a white man had been arrested.
Police have launched an urgent probe after a woman was gang raped in St Mary’s Church’s churchyard in Banbury
But Warwickshire Police were accused of a ‘cover-up’ after refusing to disclose the backgrounds of two Afghan asylum seekers who allegedly abducted and raped a 12-year-old girl. They deny the charges.
The Daily Mail revealed Warwickshire Police advised councillors and officials not to disclose the background of the suspects for fear of ‘inflaming community tensions’.
It is believed they thought unrest would break out like that seen in Epping, Essex, where an Ethiopian asylum seeker staying in a hotel was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
Sean Woodcock, the Labour MP for Banbury, said he knows the Oxfordshire attack ‘will have shocked the entire community’.
Councillor Dr Kerrie Thornhill, a Labour councillor serving Banbury Hardwick, added: ‘I condemn this cruel, cowardly attack and would like to express my sympathy and solidarity with the survivor.
‘Women and girls deserve to be safe and free in all spaces, 24 hours a day.’
Nearby residents said St Mary’s churchyard was a hive of anti-social behaviour both before and after dark.
One single mother living in a flat overlooking the churchyard said: ‘You often hear screams from there but it’s difficult to know if they are being caused by people, perhaps making their way home from the nightclub around the corner, or from foxes. We do get lots of foxes in the churchyard.’
The woman said she reported a knife and bottle fight in the churchyard three weekends ago, adding: ‘It was on a Saturday afternoon in broad daylight. ‘Groups of men had smashed bottles and were attacking each other with them.
‘You often get a group of Polish men sat there (in the church yard) drinking in the afternoon. It is not a pleasant place sometimes – I have seen kids as young as ten doing drugs in there and I’ve had men snorting cocaine off the lid of my wheelie bin before’
But the woman said she did not hear anything this weekend and said police had not been making door-to door enquiries in the vicinity of her flat.
‘I was in all day on Sunday and the police didn’t come around here’, she added. ‘It’s really concerning to hear what has happened.’
‘But I didn’t hear anything on Saturday night.’
Another nearby resident agreed anti-social behaviour was rife in the churchyard and said: ‘We call the police and they say there’s nothing they can do. Then something like this happens.’
She said police had asked for the details of her building’s owners in order to secure CCTV footage.
A third resident added: ‘All sorts goes on in that church yard. I dare not walk through it at night. People use the corner of the yard as a toilet – so much so that the tree that was planted there died.’
St Mary the Virgin parish church is the only Grade I-listed building in Banbury and the footpaths running through the churchyard act as a cut through between town centre shops and Horsefair, the site of the famous Banbury Cross.
A drop-in centre for the homeless is situated next door, while the Whateley Hall Hotel opposite the church has previously housed asylum seekers but is currently functioning as a normal hotel.
Plastic sachets of the kind often used to wrap or carry drugs could be seen littering one of the two paths that cut through the churchyard this morning.
The three-star Banbury House Hotel, around half a mile from the church, is thought to currently house asylum seekers. A sign on the door said the property was currently closed, and security staff were milling around in the lobby.
A man identifying himself as a housing officer who came out to speak to the Daily Mail said he was unable to discuss the building’s current function.
But the property has attracted plenty of criticism on local Facebook pages recently over its increasingly dilapidated appearance.
TVP are searching for witnesses or anyone with information in relation to the rape.
They will be conducting house to house and CCTV enquiries as they hunt for the perpetrators.
TVP Cherwell said: ‘Thames Valley Police is appealing for a specific witness as well as anyone else with information or footage in connection with a rape in Banbury.
‘The victim, a woman in her thirties, was raped by a group of men at St Mary’s Church’s churchyard and surrounding area in the town centre in the early hours of this morning.
‘One of the offenders is said to be a white man.’
Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Mark Personius said: ‘This is a horrific crime and Thames Valley Police is conducting a thorough investigation to identify the offenders.
‘We are supporting the victim with specifically trained officers at this extremely difficult time.
‘I am making a public appeal to a specific witness, a woman, who we believe may have tried to help the victim.
‘At this stage we don’t have a description of this Good Samaritan. However, if you believe you are the woman, please contact the police as you may have vital information that can help us piece together what happened.
‘The town centre would have been busy on a Saturday night into the early hours of a Sunday morning. Therefore, I would also appeal to anyone else who saw or heard anything in the area between about 12am and 2.30am this morning to come forward.
‘Please check any CCTV, dashcam or mobile phone footage you have from the area and if you have captured anything that you think may help us, please get in touch.
‘You can contact the force by speaking to an officer at the scene, calling 101 or via a dedicated webpage for this investigation, where you can leave any footage from the area. The investigation reference number is 43250495078.
‘There is a scenewatch in place at the church to enable us to carry our forensic examinations. We will also be conducting house to house and CCTV enquiries.
‘I would like to thank local residents and businesses for their ongoing support while we are in the area carrying out our investigation.’
St Mary’s Church said in a statement: ‘Due to an incident in the churchyard last night, we currently have no access to church. It is with deep regret that we are therefore having to cancel today’s parish Eucharist. Please pray for those affected by whatever happened last night.’
It later added: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear of this incident and are praying for the victim. If you have any information, please share this with the police.’
