Police chief in rape victim plea

Chief Constable Julie Spence called on rape victims to contact police

The Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Police has urged rape victims to report the crime.

In her podcast on the force's website, Chief Constable Julie Spence said there was a danger rape victims may fear to report what had happened.

She said victims of rape "need not fear derision or disinterest".

The message came just over a week after officers DNA tested men in a Peterborough area to find the man who raped a 27-year-old woman.

The victim was assaulted on a cycle path parallel to Gresley Way shortly before 0330 BST on 19 May.

Forensic evidence

A Cambridgeshire police spokesman asked men aged between 16 and 33 in the Westwood and Ravensthorpe areas to provide a mouth swab.

Police have forensic evidence from the attack to compare with any DNA samples.

The woman was grabbed from behind as she walked and was knocked out.

Chief Constable Julie Spence said: "The real danger in all of the, now frequent, debate around the issues, is that rape victims may fear to report what has happened to them.

"That would be a tragedy.

"But victims of rape in Cambridgeshire who come to us should know that they needn't fear derision or disinterest."