Who was the fake Good Samaritan?
Police release video of man they want to speak to in connection with attempted rape in Manchester city centre
It was supposed to be a normal night out for three friends in Manchester city centre, but it came to a nightmarish end.
One woman was sexually assaulted after her drink was suspected of being spiked.
Her attacker had initially appeared as a Good Samaritan, offering to walk her home. But with every step, the effects of the drink took hold.
Then, he invited himself into her flat in Manchester’s Green Quarter.
Now more than three years since the attack, police have issued a fresh appeal for information despite an exhaustive investigation. The force has now released CCTV footage of an individual they believe may be able to help their investigation..
Detective Inspector Jonny Dyer, from GMP’s City of Manchester district, said: “I urge anyone who may know anything further regarding this incident to please come forward. Your information may be vital in finding the man responsible and getting justice for the victim.”
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In the footage, a man police to whom police to speak fist pumps another individual in a bar. Despite inquiries at the venue officers were unable to identify him.
All three women were followed by a man as they left a bar in Tib Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
He is understood to have given the false impression that he was concerned about the state of the victim, who was by that point semi-conscious.
During the incident, Greater Manchester Police say the suspect sexually assaulted one of the young women, and her friend was slapped as she desperately tried to make him leave.
The victim, in her 20s, said in a statement to police: “So we walked down to the Dive Bar as we knew it was open late. I think we got there for maybe 3am.
Police want to speak to this man about an unsolved attempted rape which took place in Manchester’s Green Quarter.
“We didn’t order drinks, we were just dancing. My friend went over and started talking to this group of lads. She came over to us after a while, saying they’d bought us these drinks
” I think they bought us a gin and tonic each. From my memory it did taste fine. I think they also got us tequila shots. We all had one each.
“We were in the Dive bar for I think an hour, then we were all starting to feel tired and thought ‘let’s go’.
“But something was weird. I don’t remember the walk home.
“The next thing I remember was this guy sat at the end of the bed, like staring at me. As I was so out of it I remember seeing him on the bed and sort of falling back to sleep, and woke up to him sexually assaulting me. I am pretty sure I was saying ‘what are you doing? Stop’.
“My body felt so weak. But it felt as if he was trying to get on top of me, it felt as if he was trying to move my legs. I remember feeling a push and force on me, then I woke up a bit more and managed to push him off.”
She added: “This incident has made me feel very angry. It has impacted my anxiety and depression and it has been keeping me up at night. I have been having flashbacks. It has made me feel unsafe in my own home.”
The victim’s friend said: “I normally see her able to handle her drink. She looked as if she had had more than a drink.”
She added that the third woman also blacked out and told her she felt like she had been spiked.
Tib Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
She told police: “The suspect spotted us, didn’t go with the other males, and saw that she (the victim) wasn’t okay. He pointed and asked if she was okay. At first I thought he was trying to help, but then he continued to walk with us, as I was telling him to go home. I said clearly we are going to bed and he said ‘let’s continue the party’. I kept saying ‘no, leave’.
She told the man she was not happy with him following and said she did not want him to go back to the flat with them.
“I recall feeling frustrated when I had repeatedly told him to leave,” the victim’s friend added. “When we got in my friend passed out on the sofa. He was trying to speak to her and get close to her and she was clearly asleep.”
She and the other woman then started to dance “to make the best of the situation,” she said.
She added: “I think he then saw that as some invitation and he took his top off. That was not something we wanted. We told him to put his top on again.”
A friend said she put the victim to bed. After a while the man left the living room where he had been with the other two women, who were thinking how they could make him leave. When he did not return after a while the victim’s friend went to see where he was.
“I found the guy lying next to my friend, he was trying to pull his trousers up,” she told police in a statement.
“I grabbed him immediately and was screaming at him to get out. At that point I told him I was going to phone the police. The man just found it funny and didn’t believe me.
“We ended up in the bathroom where he was questioning why I was angry with him. He grabbed me to show his strength. He picked me up and pushed me across the room. I then slapped him and he slapped me back across the face. At this point he started laughing. I felt so defeated. I was in tears screaming that he must go.”
The women finally managed to get the man out by forcing him out of the apartment and locking the door. He left at about 9am.
The incident happened some time between 4am and 6am on May 14, 2022. Officers have issued CCTV footage of a man they wish to speak to in connection with the attack, which is being investigated as an attempted rape.
Anyone who witnessed this incident, or who recognises this man should contact GMP on 101 quoting 2316 of the 15/05/22.