Gardai in Athlone have confirmed that no evidence pertaining to the attacks on women in Athlone has gone missing, contrary to reports that appeared in the national media this week.
According to a report in Wednesday’s Star newspaper, gardai threw out a blouse one of the victims was wearing when she was attacked last year.
It was claimed that the blouse was in a bag along with some other items of evidence when it was accidentally thrown out several months ago.
However, Sgt John Lawless of Athlone Garda Station rubbished the reports yesterday, saying “No evidence is missing”.
The newspaper report came just a day after Athlone Garda Superintendent Aidan Glacken appeared on RTE’s Crimecall programme to appeal for help in tracking down the perpetrator of two attacks on women in Athlone last week, as well as three assaults in the Bonavalley area of Athlone last year.
Athlone Gardai said yesterday that a large number of calls were received as a result of the appeal, and that they now have a number of new leads to follow up.
Over 1,000 lines of enquiry have already been pursued by gardai as part of their investigations, while thousands of house enquiries have been carried out, hundreds of statements taken, and up to 700 men in the area photographed.
However investigators remain anxious to speak to a man who took a Fiat Minivan taxi from the centre of Athlone to the Hallsbridge area of the town at approximately 4.30am on Friday morning, not long before the attack on a 28-year-old woman.
The man was carrying a rucksack and a woolly hat, and gardai are keen to rule him out of their enquiries.
The investigation into the series of attacks is now centring around the premise that somebody must know the man behind the spate of assaults. “This person obviously has people with whom he interacts on a daily basis, either at work or at home, and he must be acting in an unusual manner - all of the attacks but one have taken place between 2am and 6am.
He may also have some form of unexplained cuts or bruises. Someone out there must have a piece of information or a suspicion, no matter how difficult it is to acknowledge. If we are going to bring an end to these attacks we need people to go that extra mile,” said Supt Glacken this week.
It has not yet been confirmed that the attack on a woman in the Hallsbridge area of Athlone last Saturday morning is connected to last Tuesday’s assault of a 19-year-old woman in the Bonavalley area, or to last year’s three attacks at Bonavalley. However, Supt Glacken says there are several similarities between the incidents, such as the fact that a degree of force was used, and that the women were walking alone when grabbed from behind by their attacker.
The man being sought in relation to the attacks is described as being between 5’8 and 5’10 in height, of slim or athletic build, and with dark hair and distinctive, deep-set eyes. Descriptions of the perpetrator, gained particularly from last Tuesday’s attack, suggest he was wearing heavy dark cord trousers and a dark jumper with a white rim or collar. A distinctive, overpowering smell, which was described as something akin to ‘Joop’ aftershave was noted.
A behavioural analyst and a psychological profiler have been drafted in to lend their expertise to boost the investigation.
Meanwhile the Students Union at Athlone Institute of Technology continue to urge students to be aware of safety issues. They were handing out leaflets to students this week urging them not to walk alone at night and to remain alert, while gardai visited the college as part of the ‘Stay Safe’ campaign.
