WILLIAMS TRIAL: THE number of unsolved rapes, indecent assaults and flashing incidents in west Wiltshire, Bath and Bristol were revealed to the jurors in the Randle Williams murder trial.
Det Sgt Andy Cross relayed Home Office crime figures revealing how 24 rapes in Trowbridge, five rapes in Melksham and one rape in Bradford on Avon since April 2001 have yet to be solved. All the offences were on women and have been recorded on the Wiltshire force's crime recording system.
In Wiltshire's county town Trowbridge there are also 24 indecent assaults unsolved compared to nine in Melksham and two in Bradford on Avon.
Four cases of flashing are still to be solved in Trowbridge compared to four in Bradford on Avon.
In relation to the River Avon at Bradford on Avon only one indecent exposure was recorded and unsolved at Barton Fields.
Det Sgt Andy Cross read out the statistics dating back over the last two years at the request of defence barrister Neil Ford QC, who asked for the figures to be produced and read out in court.
The statistics increase for Bath and Bristol: In Bath 26 rapes are unsolved just two more than Trowbridge along with 44 allegations of indecent assault and 27 cases of indecent exposure.
But in Bristol, the second biggest city in the south of the country, unsolved crime includes seven murders, although three are suspected suicides, 492 rapes, 722 cases of indecent assaults and 258 flashing incidents.
DS Cross said the Home Office requirements meant any allegation had to be recorded even if there was not enough evidence to gain a conviction.
The Wiltshire detective, who has been second in command of the Williams murder case from the outset, said there were no cases of unsolved murders in Bradford on Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge or Bath.
DS Cross said the crime recording system used by the Avon and Somerset force meant he was unable to compose a breakdown of offences either on or close to the River Avon.
Randle Williams is accused of strangling his wife Natalie and putting her body into the River Avon.
He denies murder.
The trial continues
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