Margaret McMillan Park. Pic: Soha Ibrahim
Police investigating a series of sexual assaults in Greenwich and Lewisham arrested 24-year-old man in the early hours of Monday, June 10 on suspicion of rape.
The arrest is related to two instances of sexual assault in Greenwich that occurred on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, June 2 that the police have formally linked together.
Officers are keeping an ‘open-mind’ whether this is related to the third instance of sexual assault that occurred in Margaret McMillan park in Lewisham on Friday, June 7.
The suspect was apprehended by police out on increased patrol that evening. After being questioned he was arrested and remains in custody in a south London police station.
Following the arrest, Detective Chief Inspector Angela Craggs in a statement said: “Although we have made an arrest, we are still appealing information from the public.”
Craggs asked for women in the areas that the assault took place to remain vigilant:
“Stranger attacks are rare and we would like to urge people to be alert, but not alarmed. The attacks have been on lone women in the early hours of the morning and whilst we would not want people as a result of these incidents to change their route which may have a direct impact on their journey home or to or from work we would ask people to be vigilant.”
“We are also aware that there might be further victims who have not yet spoken to police; if you are a victim, or know someone who has been a victim of a sexual assault, I can assure you your information will be treated with strict confidence and sensitivity and we can also access specialist support where needed.” the detective chief inspector added.
A man in his late twenties was also arrested on Saturday, 8 June in connection to all three incidents but was released on bail, pending further enquiries sometime in early July.
Anyone with information that could be useful to the investigation are asked to contact the South East Safeguarding Team on 0208 284 8461 in reference to ‘Operation Lagoda’. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 080555111or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.
