To suspect police are worried about vigilantes - Epsom attack

[ReadingCrimeFiction]

I live relatively close to Epsom and so this appalling assault is all over my news feeds and social media.

BBC News - Town left in shock by appalling rape outside church
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8dl5yevjg9o

The police have asked for witnesses but no descriptions have been given. Cue lots of very disturbing posts and comments from people who very clearly think these men are not white.

I can think of half a dozen scenarios where this is not being disclosed but, based on the comments, I think it all comes down to fears that local communities will take it on themselves to "apprehend" anyone who even vaguely looks like the perpetrators? And while the comments I am seeing are mostly white people being disgusting in their assumptions about brown and black people, i can imagine police would he equally concerned if, for example, the woman was Asian or Black and her attackers were white.

Is this where we are at? Where people make horrible racist assumptions and/or where police have to worry about how they will protect the broader community if they give any details of criminals?

I stand corrected. The argument has restarted 🤣

I’m not going to have the time today to go back and forth for hours unfortunately. I’m just waiting to see how this news story develops as it’s certainly had all of us busy yesterday.

Wales? Been a couple of times. Pretty, but rains a lot.

** not nothing, but very little.

No the BBC hasn't covered the Bristol case all. They have only reported the name of
the man arrested and the fact that he has now been charged🙄. What else do you want them to report?

eta: The two other men arrested were released under investigation, so it is fair enough not to release their names as they have not been charged?

Man in court on rape charge after woman attacked in Bristol - BBC News https://share.google/n5b9m9UcFRkK65oqv

My point is that it's a contrast to the amount of coverage they've given to the Epsom case. Both cases are awful.

No you said There's nothing about it on the BBC website which is completely untrue. There are several articles.

Eta: the reason Epsom is getting a lot of coverage is because of the stupid "protestors". I don't think the people of Bristol behaved in that way, did they?

The organisers of a protest in Epsom said they were “reassured” but not “satisfied” after they met police officers to discuss the investigation into the alleged rape of a woman in the town.
Two men – Billy Cooper and Pete, who did not give his surname – had a private meeting with Surrey Police on Thursday evening following their call for more information about the suspects in the alleged attack outside Epsom Methodist Church on Saturday.
A woman in her 20s is believed to have been followed and assaulted outside the church in Ashley Road after leaving Labyrinth Epsom nightclub between 2am and 4am, according to the force.
A large crowd of protesters gathered in the upmarket town’s centre on Wednesday evening after police said they did not have enough information to release descriptions of any suspects.
Speaking after their hour-long meeting with Chief Superintendent Mark Chapman at Epsom Police Station, Mr Cooper said: “There’ll be something released tomorrow from the police. So, we’re happy with what they’re saying at the moment.
"So it’s just a case now of waiting to see what gets released tomorrow.”
Asked if they were satisfied with how the police had dealt with the investigation so far, Mr Cooper told the Press Association: “No, no one’s satisfied.”
Pete added the two would wait for the police to release more information on Friday before deciding whether to give their own account of how the meeting went.
He said: “If we feel like they haven’t released anything that we’ve discussed in there this evening, then we’ll release that.”
The men, who arrived at Epsom Police Station at around 7.15pm, said the police told them the investigation is still open and that they would not be revealing any descriptions of the suspects.
Mr Cooper said: “At the end of the day, they’re doing their job. They’re doing what they can.”“In terms of police and public engagement, it was very reassuring,” Pete added.
A small group of residents waited outside the police station during the meeting.
Mel, 38, from Epsom, who did not give her surname, accused the police of deliberately withholding the descriptions.
“Every aspect of Epsom is on CCTV. It’s blatant hiding (from the police), and it makes a community feel unsafe, insecure and have a lack of trust,” she told PA.
Speaking before he entered Epsom Police Station for the meeting, Mr Cooper said: “We want to know the descriptions of the attacker so that the community can actually prepare for it and know what they’re looking out for.
“Is there a danger still for the community? Do they know the descriptions? Have they got the identity of these guys? Do they know if there’s an imminent danger to the community? And what precautions should people be taking?”
Asked if he was worried that circulating the descriptions of the suspects would endanger any future criminal case, Mr Cooper said: “I think my main concern is the community.”
Witnesses in the area at the time of the incident outside the church have been urged to contact Surrey Police

This was written in an ITVX article 90 mins ago.

@EvangelicalAboutButteredToastBilly Cooper was one of the key people in putting up flags across the borough and arranging ‘patriotic’ marches. I really don’t believe his interest comes in anyway from wanting to protect women & girls.

That argument ended.

Argument? What argument? Are you trying to deflect the question inquiring if you are in the UK? Why is it even contentious? This is a UK forum. I am in the UK. The vast majority of contributors are in the UK. Are you in the UK?

If there is a danger to women, wouldn’t the police be urging caution when out alone if the perpetrators have yet to be apprehended? This case is quite strange.

Billy and Pete strike me as people that like to paint roundabouts. Whatever the police said it’s obviously short term placated them so that’s good.

It’s like whack-a-mole round here. One pops back into a box and another one flies out!

I already posted several pages ago about the reasons why the police might not have proper details or descriptions yet.

One of the possibilities is that the victim and the attackers were known to each other, and the victim - for whatever reason - is not cooperating with the investigation.

Another possibility, however remote (which is why I didn't list it initially), is that the police have reason to believe these allegations may not be entirely true.

The main point is people should stop speculating and causing the police more difficulty. Let them do their jobs.

I agree - I think if there was a marauding gang of rapists on the loose the police would have warned people.

"One" what?

Yes, all true. But in the current climate certain people will happily jump to certain conclusions every time a case like this is reported. We see it time after time. It is horribly depressing.

Agreed. I think it might have been a different perpetrator that she didn't want to name. Not victim blaming.

Ah but that is my point. The media is paid to ‘spoon feed’ us information. If we had to do our own research we wouldn’t need them would we?

Of the news outlets you have provided, one is a duplicate, The Mirror and Daily Mail are not particularly well regarded for their serious news (although the DM has been good on other issues), the Metro always comes across as a London centric publication, the Bristol Post and London Evening Standard are obviously local and the BBC deliberately cut the link from its initial report with its ‘follow up’.

Key words for this crime would be Bristol + gang + rape. Type those into a search engine and you get limited results. Which is my point.

Interestingly, now I AM looking into this a bit more, there was another gang rape of a teenager in Bristol last November. 2 men of Afghan nationality charged and 2 men with unreported details charged. Link below,

There is also a trial coming up of an Iranian and 2 Egyptian migrants for a gang rape in Brighton October last year. Link below

Two Eritrean men wanted for gang rape in Denmark were reportedly here for 18 months in asylum accommodation. They have now been sent back to Denmark for trial.

How many gang rapes along these lines are we going to see before the media will report on this serious threat to women’s safety properly and give the issue the platform it deserves? The government stifle the media on grounds of ‘national security’ but it is women that are being thrown under the bus for that end. Gang rape used to be a rare offence. They need to find another way.

https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2025/12/four-charged-after-teenager-raped-in-bristol/

www.theargus.co.uk/news/26025419.migrant-kept-videos-brighton-beach-rape-trophies-jury-told/

Poster. Person. Individual. Contributor. I’m sure there are many more synonyms but they’re the ones off the top of my head.

This post is speculating, there’s no evidence the allegations are ’not entirely true’.

Women and girls are collateral damage.

I think we’re probably moving into a time where women are going to have to adjust their behaviour to stay safe. It pisses me off to say it, as I’ve done my fair share of coming out w nightclub and walking home in the middle of the night and I managed to do that without anything terrible happening. Maybe the world has changed and we’ve got to accept that, and put our own personal curfews in place to make sure we remain unharmed. Also a can of travel hairspray or similar in our bags.

I can't stand the pitch for wielding hooligans that come out when there is no football matches to terrorise, but unfortunately, these conclusions that people jump to are usually right. If a bomb goes off somewhere or we hear of a vulnerable girl groomed and raped by a gang, it never turns out to be a fringe branch of the WI or the cub scouts, does it?

There is no evidence indeed.

And neither did I say that was what was happening.

I said, quite clearly, it is one of many possibilities. That is not speculation.

I really don’t believe his interest comes in anyway from wanting to protect women & girls.

What makes you think that?

Do you know him or are you just judging him on your negative and fairly generalised perception of him?

it never turns out to be a fringe branch of the WI or the cub scouts, does it?

Well obviously. Although I think the scouts have had a few issues in the past.

but unfortunately, these conclusions that people jump to are usually right

Which conclusions do you mean?