New leads in doorstep rapist inquiry

The attack has been reconstructed for television

Detectives hunting a man who raped a Lancashire woman in her own home say they are following several new leads after an appeal on the BBC's Crimewatch programme.

Viewers saw a reconstruction of the horrific attack on the 18-year-old woman in her home in Great Harwood, near Blackburn on 19 January.

She was raped after answering a knock at the door, within minutes of returning from her part-time job at a local convenience store.

Detective Inspector Neil Hunter said: "We had about 60 calls, some of which provided names which we weren't previously aware of.

'Little child'

"We'll be following the leads quite rigorously now."

It is not clear if the rapist was local - and police hoped the reconstruction of the attack on television on Wednesday night would identify him.

Speaking about the effect of the assault, the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "I live like a little child - I cannot sleep on my own, I cannot go upstairs on my own, if I get up in the night to go to the toilet I have to wake somebody up to come with me.

"I cannot go anywhere, and I cannot ever imagine life being like it used to be."

Before pushing her into the house, the rapist had asked if she needed any double-glazing.

Detective Inspector Hunter said: "We have now got DNA in relation to the forensic examinations we conducted, which allows us to eliminate anybody who is not connected with this offence.

Peeping-Tom

"We would like to identify the person seen at the front of the house on the night of the offence.

"He is described as white, in his late 20s, of broad build, about 5ft 9in tall, with a dark or weathered complexion, dark eyes and dark eyebrows, and he was wearing a dark blue waist-length jacket.

"There are also eight or nine sightings of a peeping-Tom at the back of the house.

"One of them was paying quite a lot of attention to the back of the house - that person is a white male, aged 27 to 32, 5 ft 8 in tall, with shaven hair cut to number two, a swarthy or weathered complexion, and he wore a black bubble-jacket.

"If people do have any suspicions about anybody we would encourage and urge those people to ring us up and provide us with that information."