Locals in UK town ‘scared to go out’ after alleged gang rape | UK | News

Residents of a town in England say they feel unsafe following the alleged gang rape of a woman outside a church. A woman has claimed she was raped by several men outside a Methodist church in Epsom after leaving a nearby nightclub in the early hours of Saturday. Protesters took to the streets on Wednesday, demanding detailed information from police about the alleged attackers.

“I don’t feel safe,” said Holly O’Brien, who works for the local council. “We have two young children. I don’t feel safe anymore.” He told The Daily Express that anger would “only grow” and there was a risk of people being “misinformed”. Holly’s husband Peter, 40, said he was proud that the market town was “friendly and safe” and that the majority of people you would meet in the area were middle-aged and educated.

He said: “From what I’ve read, if she were my daughter, I’m not an aggressive man but I would easily tear her arm off, cut off her leg, it’s not murder and that’s coming from someone who is measured and calculating.

“I had a bad feeling I was going to get the damn thing.”

Shèna Winchester, 54, has lived at Epsom Downs for 19 years.

He said: “This is Epsom. It’s a great place to live, with a great reputation.”

“It’s usually pretty safe.”

The singer’s 18-year-old son begged her not to stay out late by herself after hearing about the rape allegation.

Ms Winchester said people were “pointing their fingers” and should not jump to conclusions based on stereotypes.

Nicole Reis, 40, a catering assistant at Epsom Hospital, said those who finished work late were forced to walk around town due to “short” bus routes.

“It’s very unsafe,” he said.

“Frankly, you don’t feel safe” on the main street, said a 63-year-old woman who has lived in the town for 12 years and asked to remain anonymous.

A 64-year-old trader, who has worked in Epsom for 30 years and wished to remain anonymous, said of the protesters: “I think they’re expecting something from the police, that’s all.

“Last night the man on the microphone said to the police, ‘Why don’t you tell us?’ he said.

“People just need to know.

“Can you imagine young girls wanting to go clubbing on a Saturday night and their parents not letting them go?”

Helen Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for the area, said after the service at the church that the protest the previous day was “incredibly disappointing” and “organised by people from outside Epsom who are trying to use it as a way to incite division”.

She added: “What we really need to do is talk about women’s safety.”

Speaking about the police investigation, Ms Maguire said: “They can only release the information they have – this is a live investigation.

“It’s really important that we don’t do anything to harm the case and we need to make sure they have the time and space to do the investigation properly.”

He added: “It’s really important that the police are given the time and space to conduct their investigations.

“There’s no point in releasing any information until we know exactly what happened.”

The church’s minister, the Rev. Catherine Hutton, said the protest was “not ideal.”

He added: “I got off the train around five o’clock as some friends were gathering and there was a real sense of fear as I walked through them so I could go about my business and the gathering was quite small at the time.

“This is not an ideal way to conduct a protest.

“I think anything that scares people more is not achieving the goals they set out to achieve.”

The Rev Hutton said the current story was that Epsom was not “a place where the races are, where there are new shops, where there is good coffee, where there is a good community”.

“Instead, all their headlines include the word rape, and that really makes me sad,” she added.

Of the ongoing police investigation, the minister said: “Until we have a definitive understanding of who committed the crime, then it would be foolish to speculate, and speculation, keyboard warriorship, leads to dead ends and I think just fuels people’s prejudices.”

Surrey Police said yesterday: “We are aware of ongoing concerns in the local community following a report of rape received in the early hours of Saturday 11 April.

“We would like to reassure you that we are working diligently to establish the sequence of events and clarify the circumstances and details of those involved in the incident, which reportedly occurred outside Epsom Methodist Church on Ashley Road between 2am and 4am.

“As part of this investigation, we have already spoken to a number of eyewitnesses and carried out extensive house-to-house inquiries. “We are also reviewing CCTV footage of the route the victim took at the time of the incident to build a picture of what happened.

“Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient information to describe the suspects at this stage. However, we continue to work with the victim, supported throughout the process, to progress these investigations.”

The Daily Express has contacted Surrey Police for comment.