Police patrolling Dundee city centre this weekend will be on alert for a rape suspect who officers say may drink in local pubs.
Officers are hunting for a man in his early 20s after a teenager was raped in a small car park off Cowgate in the early hours of Sunday.
Officers believe they have captured the man on CCTV.
As the search for the suspect continues, Chief Inspector Colin Echevarria says officers will be issued that image during briefings on Friday and Saturday – in case he is a frequent visitor to the city centre.
It comes after detectives revealed the timeline of events leading to the attack, which happened moments after the 16-year-old victim left a nearby pub with a friend.
Ch Insp Echevarria told The Courier: “Officers have been briefed on this incident and will continue patrols, continue paying attention to this area.
“They have been given a description of the suspect and we do have images of the suspect so inquiries will be continuing.
“We hope over the coming days we will get a better image of that person and can identify them.
“On Friday and Saturday night when officers are briefed, they will be given that image.
Dundee cops to be issued image of rape suspect
“They will have that in their mind, they will have that on their person.
“There may be a chance that this person frequents the area on a Friday and Saturday night.
“It may be that he goes to the local pubs here and he might come again this weekend so we will be looking for him if he is not identified and arrested before that.”
The man is described as white and of slim build and average height, with short brown or auburn hair and a short beard.
The victim and her friend left the Town House pub at the corner of King Street and Cowgate at around closing time in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The friend then left for home and the man raped the girl in the car park between 1am and 1.30am.
The incident was later reported to officers patrolling the area.
Ch Insp Echevarria has assured that Dundee city centre is a “safe area” with officers on regular patrols throughout the night.
‘If you are a victim of crime, speak to police regardless of your age’
He said: “Over the coming weekends we will continue those patrols and give that reassurance to the public that you are safe to come into Dundee and drink in our local pubs.
“If a crime of this type has happened then regardless of what you have done, whether it is underage drinking, we do not care about that now.
“We would not condone it, and we would ask people to please not go into pubs if they are underage.
“The onus is on the licensees in the pubs to ask for identification and ask for that.
“However, if you are a victim of a crime, regardless of your age, you should approach a police officer and tell them because they will treat you like a human being.
“They are not going to be interested in your underage drinking, they are going to be interested in what you are a victim of.
“It is really important coming into the festive period, if you are with your friend, stay with your friend.
“Dundee city centre is a safe place, crime rates are low and incidents like this are rare.”
