Girl grabbed from behind in St Albans attack

A teenage girl was grabbed from behind by a man who tried to put a cloth over her mouth.

The incident occurred in St Albans yesterday, March 1, at around 4pm, shortly after the 17-year-old victim, a pupil at Townsend School, parted company from her boyfriend in Ladies Grove.

As she walked towards the playing fields off of Oysterfields she was approached from behind by a man who is reported to have grabbed her and put a cloth over her mouth containing some sort of liquid.

Her mother said: "Luckily my daughter fought back and punched him. She ran back to her boyfriend who then went after him and confronted him and threatened him off. They're both fine, the police cam immediately and searched the area.

"I'm so proud of my daughter for standing up to this scumbag as it could have been much worse."

The suspect is described as about 6ft tall and he was wearing a black shirt, blue loose-fitting joggers, a black and red jacket and dark shoes with white soles. He also had red headphones with a microphone. Any witnesses or anyone with information should call the non-emergency police number 101 quoting crime reference 41/16778/22.

Det Sgt Paul Wadsworth, who is investigating the incident said: “Thankfully, the girl was physically unharmed however this was understandably a frightening ordeal. I know news of this incident will be alarming but I would like to reassure the local community that a thorough investigation is underway and we are doing everything we can to find the suspect.

"We have not received any other reports of this nature however as a precaution, patrols are being increased in the area. If you have information that might help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.”

St Albans Detective Inspector Ady Lysak added: “Thankfully, the girl managed to run away and was physically unharmed however this was understandably a frightening ordeal. This is a really unusual, isolated incident and a thorough investigation is well underway. No-one has been arrested yet but we are doing everything we can to trace the offender.

“Did you see anyone suspicious in the area around this time? Do you have a doorbell camera that may have captured the man? If you have any information at all, please get in touch.”

He added: “We will be doing reassurance patrols in the area this week and speaking to residents to find out exactly what happened at 4pm yesterday. We are also working with the nearby Townsend School.”