Sex assault suspect arrested

A man has been arrested in Newry in County Down in connection with the alleged rape and abduction of a student in Sheffield last week.

The 38-year-old man was arrested by RUC officers and is being flown to England on Thursday for questioning by South Yorkshire police.

It is understood he has an address in Nottingham.

The 19-year-old student reported that she was held captive for two days and raped several times following a night out in Sheffield last Friday.

The woman was dragged into a graveyard where she was indecently assaulted by a man before being forced into a car and driven to a dwelling.

Driven back

Police said the student was then subjected to further sexual assaults by the man over two days before being driven back to the area of the cemetery and released on Saturday evening.

The officer leading the investigation, Detective Superintendent Kev Hardy, said the student was subjected to "horrific sexual assaults, including rape".

"This was a sustained serious sexual assault and as bad as you can imagine," he said.

"It's the worst rape I've ever dealt with and I've dealt with a lot."

He said the woman was "extremely traumatised" by her ordeal but did not need hospital treatment.