Two York students sexually assaulted
Two female University of York students have been sexually assaulted since the start of term.
The first attack took place around 2 am on October 12 when the victim, who has asked to remain anonymous, and a friend were walking home along Fulford Road on the way back from the Gallery nightclub. The friend, Becca Adams, noticed a man walking behind them.
She said: “I noticed the guy walking on his own and I turned to my friend and I said, ‘Let’s cross the road’. We crossed but I made sure to keep him in my eye line. He was still walking on the other side of the road so I was like, ‘It’s fine, I’m just being paranoid.’ I really noticed him and had taken in his details.” The victim, however, was unaware of the man walking behind them.
The man did not follow them immediately across the road and continued to walk on the other side. Adams said: “He must have been watching me watching him. The point that I stopped looking and started getting involved in conversation, that’s when he must have crossed. He must have noticed that I relaxed and stopped looking at him”
The two students continued to walk towards Fulford when the man closed in behind them and put his hand up the victim’s skirt. The victim said: “All of a sudden I felt a cold hand go up my skirt. I turned out and elbowed him in the chest and shouted ‘What the f**k are you doing?’” The two students turned to see that the assailant had his trousers open, with penis exposed.
The assailant stepped back from the victim, startled by her reaction, and started to apologise stutteringly. Adams said: “Her reaction was so quick and so fierce. He said ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ and stepped back. He was so cowardly.”
The victim said: “I shouted, ‘What the hell are you still doing here?’ I was more angry than upset at that point. My feeling changed later.”
The assailant buttoned his trousers and turned and started to walk back up Fulford Road towards the city. The two students walked down Fulford Road to Fulford Police Station where they reported the attack. The assailant is described as around five foot ten and with a wide face with light brown hair. Adams said that he had very distinctive eyes. She said: “They were very round. I think that’s what I noticed about him – he just looked strange. His eyes were bulbous, no particular colour that I can remember.”
Speaking about her feelings since the attack, the victim said: “It wasn’t that big a deal at the time. But then when we got to the police station and Becca was like ‘Oh my God, we just got attacked,’ I started to think ‘Yeah, we did’. It didn’t really sink in what happened until I got home and had given my statement. I’ve been crying for the past week. I felt very violated.”
The second attack occurred at around 1pm on October 18 on Nicholas Street. The assailant grabbed at the victim’s crotch before she shoved him away. Speaking after the attack she said: “There was no one else about and I think he just decided to take a chance. I shouted after him but he just sauntered off. It really unsettled me; I live just around the corner and it seems I can’t even pop to the corner shop in the middle of the day, let alone think about walking home alone at night.” She described the assailant as being about five foot eight with a slim build and narrow shoulders. She said he looked about 17 or 18 years old.
North Yorkshire Police have urged students to be vigilant at night and have asked anyone with information to call 01904 618 990.
