Rapist hunted after city centre attack (From Daily Echo)

Rapist hunted after attack in Southampton city centre

11:40am Thursday 9th February 2012 in News By Jenny Makin, Assistant News Editor

A RAPIST is being hunted by police today after a young student was attacked in a city underpass.

The 19-year-old girl was found by a group of people, lying on the ground in an extremely distressed state around 2am.

Paramedics and police were called to the scene which is this morning cordoned off as officers search for clues to find her attacker.

The attack happened in a walkway in Dorset Street, near to The Avenue in Southampton.

Detectives from CID are leading the investigation and particularly want to trace a witness who is known to have been with the victim for a short while until the emergency services arrived.

He is described as white, around 24 years old, with short hair. He was wearing a checked jumper, dark jeans and a scarf.

Detective Inspector Fiona Bitters said, “This is a serious incident and we have a large number of officers carrying out enquiries in the city, and part of the underpass is closed while we gather all available evidence. We believe the man who was found with the woman could have important information about what happened, and we are very keen to identify him as soon as possible.”