Teens frightened by flasher (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Teens frightened by flasher

8:42am Wednesday 9th May 2007 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

Teenage girls are too frightened to go into Swindon's Queen's Park because a flasher is on the loose.

Police are warning people who see the man, who is in his thirties, not to approach him.

Three 14-year-olds, a 13-year-old and two women in their 30s have all reported seeing a flasher in the town beauty spot in recent weeks.

Officers are determined to catch the man before he does anything more serious than expose himself.

PC Sally Davis, the community beat manager for Eastcott, said: "We think there are probably more incidents than have been reported."

The flasher is white, about 6ft, muscular, and in his thirties. He is balding with short, dark hair around the sides and was wearing a dark coloured top.

He has been spotted a number of times in bushes near to the Drove Road entrance to the park.

PC Davis said: "If you've got to walk out the park that way and he's there you're going to see him.

"Schoolchildren are seeing him and that's our greatest concern. All the teenagers have been quite frightened by what they have seen to the extent that it has made them run home.

"They have said they are not going to walk through the park."

The teenage girls all go to Churchfields School where there has since been a special assembly to warn other youngsters about what is happening.

PC Davis will be contacting other schools in the area to inform them as well. "It's going to have a massive impact on the park, which we don't want," she said.

"Anyone that has seen anything or knows who it is should come forward and help us catch him before he does anything serious.

"We don't want anyone to approach him at all, for safety reasons. He has not tried to approach anyone or speak to them yet but we want to make sure people don't approach him and just call us straight away."

Police are particularly interested in tracing a woman who spoke to two young girls on Thursday, May 3 by the Drove Road end of the park.

Mark Johnston, who runs a kiosk in Queen's Park, said: "There was a woman who came to me at about 9.30am the other day and she had seen him and I rang 999.

"It's not that big a place and he's going to strike again. He will be striking there and then running into the woods."

Anyone with information should contact PC Davis at Swindon police on 0845 408 7000 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

To check out the crime rate in your area using our new Local Information service click here