A manhunt is underway after a 16-year-old girl was “raped” in a UK city centre park in a horrifying attack shortly before 2am on yesterday morning. The distressing incident occurred in the early hours of Friday, April 12, with officers arriving at the scene around 1.50am – where they found the alleged vicitim.
The young girl, who was reportedly assaulted by an unidentified male, is now receiving care from specially trained officers as detectives launch a full-scale investigation. Images from the scene depict police tape encircling parts of the gardens, including a war memorial and a tree.
Merseyside Police say they are scouring through footage from newly installed CCTV cameras in St John’s Gardens – where the alleged attack took place – and conducting witness interviews in their search for evidence. In the meantime, police presence has been ramped up, with high visibility patrols being conducted to reassure the public, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Merseyside Police are urging locals to approach patrolling officers with any concerns or to report anything out of the ordinary. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Parry said: “This is clearly a very shocking incident which has left a young girl very distressed. I want the public to be reassured that we will do everything in our powers to find the person responsible and bring them to justice and I would urge anyone with information which could assist our enquiries to get in touch as a matter of urgency.
“We believe there were a number of people in the vicinity of St John’s Gardens at the time of this incident, who left without speaking to our patrols and I would urge them to come forward and speak to us as information they have could be critical in helping us to identify the person responsible.”
“As part of our enquiries we will be examining the newly installed CCTV cameras in St John’s Gardens together with Liverpool City Council’s CityWatch cameras and would also appeal to any delivery, or taxi, drivers who were in the area at around 1.30am today to check their dashcam to establish if they captured anything significant.
“We want people who visit the city centre and St John’s Gardens to feel safe and we will continue to provide dedicated high visibility policing patrols to deter offenders, and educate and protect the public.
“We will also be working with Liverpool City Council’s park patrols to assist us in increasing visibility in the area and as part of the Home Office funding we successfully applied for we will continue to look at new initiatives to increase safety and reduce serious violence.”
Anyone with information which could assist the investigation is asked to DM @MerPolCC or call 101. Information can also be passed on anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 24000333447.
