Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee rape: Man may have attacked another woman before sex assault

The police cordon on Brook Street.
The police cordon on Brook Street.

A rapist may have tried to force his way into another woman’s house 20 minutes before he attacked a student in Dundee.

Police are hunting for a man described as being in his late thirties who committed the “horrific” assault on Thursday evening on West Henderson’s Wynd – close to the Verdant Works museum.

Police activity near Guthrie Street.

His 18-year-old female victim is being supported by friends and family, but police say the attacker is still at large after being chased off by members of the public.

A 27-year-old shop worker told The Courier a man tried to force his way into her house on Polepark Road, less than 400 yards away from the scene of the attack, about 20 minutes before the teenager was put through her ordeal.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she was terrified at the thought of what could have happened.

She bravely fought off the would-be attacker, who charged at her door after she returned from work.

She said: “I was walking up my close at around 7.50pm on Thursday night when I noticed a man in the corner of my eye outside my neighbour’s door. He had his back to me.

“I opened my door and assumed the man was looking for my neighbour and made my way into my flat.

‘Screaming’

“The next thing I know, he has turned around and is sprinting down the close towards my front door, screaming.

“I went to push the door closed and pushed it as hard as I could to get him out my flat. I kept trying to push him away – I took a pretty big gouge at his eye. He just kept screaming: ‘Are you Olivia, where is Olivia!’ I have no idea who ‘Olivia’ is.

“I was able to get the door closed and locked and called the police.

“He was in his late thirties or early forties, I’d say. About 5 foot 6 inches tall and his face was covered in acne scars.

“He had a blue pullover jumper on, with a hood and white trainers.

‘Fight or flight’

“I properly went for him as I was fending him off. It was all reflex, like fight or flight. He should have a mark on his eye now too. I fought back, I didn’t know what else to do.

“I told the police everything that happened, but had absolutely no idea there was a sexual assault less than twenty minutes later just down the road.

“I am really shocked by it. It’s horrible to think what could have happened. I’m shaken up by it.

“I had assumed it was an attempted robbery, there have been so many break-ins in the area recently – that is what I thought it was.

“Police told me on Thursday night they believed it was an ‘opportunistic’ burglary attempt.”

Detective chief inspector Graham Binnie said investigating officers were aware of the Polepark Road incident as part of their sex assault inquiries.

‘Distressing’

He said: “I am very aware there are a lot of students living in the area and I am very aware this may be distressing to them – particularly those who may be new to Dundee.

“We are working with the two universities at the moment to make sure we can do all we can to offer safety advice to those students who live and study and socialise in that area of the city.

“The Polepark Road incident which happened 20 minutes earlier will be treated absolutely as part of our inquiries.

Detective chief inspector Graham Binnie

“As part of the inquiry we are examining calls made to the police at similar times and similar areas of the city on Thursday night and that is one which has already been identified by police and is forming part of our lines of inquiry.

‘Normal precautions’

“People should take the normal precautions they would take going about their normal business, but I wouldn’t wish to unduly alarm people.”

The suspect is described as being 5ft 7in, in his late thirties. He was wearing a dark hooded top and Adidas jogging bottoms and white trainers.

He is white, has a Scottish accent, is of medium to heavy build and has short hair.

Verdant Works remained closed on Friday while forensics officers scoured the cobbled streets surrounding the museum for evidence.

A grey taxi was loaded on to the back of a flat-bed truck on Friday afternoon as part of inquiries.

Police hope the 18-year-old victim’s distinctive yellow jacket might prove vital in helping them with their investigation.

A spokesman for Abertay University said the institution was offering personal safety advice to students in the wake of the attack and were cooperating with police.

Dundee University was approached for comment.

Anyone who has information regarding the sexual assault is asked to contact police on 101. Alternatively, information can be handed over anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.