Cheltenham dog walker sexually assaulted
A woman out walking her dog in Cheltenham has been seriously sexually assaulted.
A man attacked the 24-year-old when she was walking off Malvern Road at around 9pm on October 26.
-
The attacker is described as a white man, aged in his twenties and around 5ft 5inches tall. He was wearing a black hoody with a white scarf around his face and white trainers.
It was not reported to police until Friday and police are warning people to be extra vigilant.
Detective Inspector Steve Bean, from Cheltenham CID, said: "We take all reports of this kind extremely seriously.
"Incidents of this nature are very rare in Cheltenham and we do not want to cause any unnecessary alarm but would remind women to consider their personal safety.
"Try to avoid walking alone late at night, if you are out when it is dark then choose well-lit, busy routes."
Anyone with information about the incident should contact police on 0845 090 1234, quoting incident 200 of November 6, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
For more information on personal safety visit the Gloucestershire Constabulary website at www.gloucestershire.police.uk.
4 Comments
by Maggie, UK
Monday, November 09 2009, 9:49PM
“You do realize that a man was walking around your town, attacked, and raped someone, right? How is that not cause for at least heightened diligence regarding your own safety? Have you been through anything like this in your entire life? They even stated that it's not cause for too much alarm, just be more vigilant. And the point of this news article isn't really to alarm people, like it said, but to also put it out there that someone did commit a crime, and hey, he's still out there somewhere! Also to keep in mind, next time you're feeling opinionated about a news story of a woman being raped, it certainly does not feel good for someone to completely invalidate the severity of what happened. Her neighborhood, and your neighborhood, was a very dangerous one that night, and really you're just saying, "Oh, really? Why does that matter?" You think just because someone is raped means they don't read the news, or go on the internet anymore?”
by gj, uk
Monday, November 09 2009, 4:59PM
“Chelt to the end - what an absolute genius you are .
Well done”
by Chelt to the end, Chelt
Monday, November 09 2009, 2:59PM
“I think you are taking this well out of proportion...not that I am undervaluing the experience of this poor woman, because it is a dreadful thing to have happen...but you could say the same thing about any place, and then where would you live.
It is a fact that bad news is good news. Take for instance.
Woman takes dog for walk and nothing happens, wheres the news in that?
Again though, I hope the woman is alright and this doesn't affect her too much in future.”
by anon, Chelt
Monday, November 09 2009, 2:09PM
“I really hope this lady is ok, what is going on, all you hear about is murders, people going missing and not being found, and now sexual assults in Cheltenham, why did I move here???? (from a bigger town) thought it was a nice town”