News

Witness appeal after Manor Park 'assault'

By Amy Taylor
February 25, 2013

WITNESSES are being urged to come forward to help investigate an alleged sexual assault in Manor Park on Friday night (February 22).

A 25-year-old woman from Surrey reported the crime to police on Saturday morning, telling officers she was assaulted between 9pm and 11.30pm the night before.

Detectives are continuing to investigate and would like to hear from anyone who was in the Manor Park area on Friday night who may have seen something suspicious.

The park was cordoned off on Saturday to protect the scene early in the morning, but is now fully open again.

Aldershot Police confirmed on Saturday through their Twitter account that a report had been received and was being looked into.

Several rumours surfaced on social media sites of a body being found in the duck pond, but officers were quick to correct these.

They thanked the public for their "understanding and support" in co-operating with the cordons, particularly on an Aldershot Town match day when the streets and pubs nearby were busy, and for neighbours' kindness in supplying cups of tea.

Anyone with information is asked to call Aldershot Police on 101 quoting reference number 44130069589, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Most recent user comments 12 of 12

FemaleReader,

While we both agree that there is insufficient information in the article to allow us to judge the credibility of the victim, my concern was and is that should the victim (or their family) read so soon after an initial report of the attack that someone was questioning “how credible the victim is”, what effect is that going to have on them and how is it going to make them feel.

This is the point I was trying tactfully to make. Perhaps it was a poor choice of words on both of our posts.

Dawi, Aldershot
04/03/2013 at 15:24

I find myself nodding in agreement to all of the comments on this story, which is odd because people normally have such polar views its very easy to "pick a side". It seems everybody is thinking and saying the same thing.

Hector
02/03/2013 at 16:15

I wasn't judging I was asking if anyone else had thought the same from what WAS written in the article. I also wasn't trying to second guess what wasn't written.

FemaleReader
28/02/2013 at 12:56

FemaleReader,

I don’t think that there is enough information in the article to allow us to judge the “Credibility” of the victim.

There may be many factors we are unaware of e.g. had the victim been drinking or had a drink spiked, direction of travel through the park etc.

The wide time band referred to could be the way it has been reported by the paper, the actual length of the time of the assault, the time frame that the Police want to look at to try and find out if someone was lurking in the area, or if the victim had passed out, the period between passing out and regaining consciousness.

Nor can or should we read anything in to the fact that the assault was not reported until the next morning as the victim would probably have been in shock and if she lived alone or no one else was in (assuming she made her way home) she may have passed out.

Also we should consider the effect such questioning on the “Credibility” of the victim could have on her is she reads or is told about it, considering the lack of information given.

Finally I also hope that anyone who was in the area in the time frame will give the police any help they can, and echo my previous statement that we all need to take some responsibility for our own safety by not putting ourselves in position where we can easily become victims.

Dawi, Aldershot
27/02/2013 at 19:11

I agree with Dawi, I live at the top of Manor Park and wouldn't dream of walking through there on my own in the dark.

Aldershot Lass
27/02/2013 at 15:29

'reported the crime to police on Saturday morning, telling officers she was assaulted between 9pm and 11.30pm the night before'

Am I the only one to question how credible the victim is? Why wait until the next day to report it and I think even without a watch most people know the difference between 9 and 11.30pm!!

If this assault happened then I hope a witness comes forward but we all need to take responsibility for our own safety even if it means a five minute detour.

FemaleReader
27/02/2013 at 14:58

peter hensman, While we all have rights, we equally also have responsibilities as well, which we all seem to forget about to some extent.

Part of those responsibilities include doing what we can to ensure our own safety, and crossing an lonely park late at night with poor lighting (presumably on your own), is a poor choice to make when there are more obvious (if slightly longer) safer routes to take.

This is in no way an excuse for what has happened and must have been an ordeal for her, BUT it is something we all need to think more about before putting ourselves at risk in what is a potentially dangerous and isolated location.

Dawi, Aldershot
27/02/2013 at 13:53

As peter said...especially with the parks history/reputation

Molo Ko
27/02/2013 at 13:28

I respect the ladies right to walk through the park at any time that she wishes, but is it wise to do so after dark?

peter hensman
27/02/2013 at 10:22

sleeping beauty

Having just checked the article for the 3rd time today, I think that the article has been updated at least twice so far.

The original article was quite a bit shorter and contained quite a bit more about the football match being held which is what tinks 41 is referring to.

Dawi, Aldershot
25/02/2013 at 23:32

I would hardly call the third of a sentence "so much about a football match". Now if they had added a full match report with crowd stats and final score I could understand your comment.