Police in Derry have launched a patrolling plan after four sexually motivated attacks on women in recent weeks.
Two women were attacked at knifepoint in the Drumahoe area of the city at the weekend.
An incident on Friday night involved a woman in her 20s walking in Drumahoe Park at around 10pm when a man approached her from behind. The man punched the woman to the side of the head, pulled her into nearby trees and pushed her to the ground at knifepoint. The woman struggled with her attacker, managing to strike him in the face a number of times with her torch before she was able to break free and run for help.
On Saturday, a woman in her 40s was walking her dog in Top of the Hill Park shortly before 3pm when she was approached by a man armed with a kitchen knife. The man grabbed at the woman but she called out and swung her dog lead at him, prompting him to run off.
Detectives are investigating the possibility that Saturday’s attack is linked to a similar attack in Drumahoe on Friday night.
In separate incidents on the morning of 27th October, a woman in her 50s suffered a terrifying sexual assault by an unknown man in an alleyway in the Lecky Road area of Derry.
Two days later, on the 29th October, a woman aged in her late teens was left traumatised after being sexually assaulted in Bank Place in the city centre.
Speaking following the latest attacks, Detective Inspector Ross Olphert said: “We understand that there will be concern in the community at a second knifepoint attack on a woman in just two days, with this latest one occurring during daylight hours, however I can assure residents that a focused, tactical patrolling plan – which includes a high visibility police presence in key areas such as our local parks – has been implemented and there will be an increased police presence across the city in coming days.
“Whilst we are carrying out a number of enquiries to establish if there is any definitive link between these two attacks, I can assure residents that there is no link to attacks in the city centre last week. In both of those cases a suspect has been identified and those cases are ongoing.
“We are engaging with our communities and partners in the city around what we can do, as a collective, to ensure women and girls feel safe and empowered to go about their lives without fear.”
