Abduction police faced scepticism

By James Lynn
BBC News, Newcastle

The ground-floor bathroom could be observed from the alley

In the words of police, it was a crime greeted by almost universal disbelief.

Completely unnoticed, a stranger entered a Tyneside flat, snatched a six-year-old from the bathtub, drove her a short distance and raped her.

The intruder - sex offender Peter Voisey - then abandoned the naked, screaming girl in a snow-covered alley.

In the days following the abduction, detectives struggled to win support for their theory that the crime had been an opportunistic one.

They were forced to defend the focus of their investigation and to deny suggestions that the abductor had some knowledge of the family's home.

Frosted window

Det Ch Insp Jim Napier, who led the investigation, said: "I was convinced very early on that the girl's account of what happened to her was not only credible but entirely feasible and the investigation proceeded on that basis.

"It doesn't get much more serious than this - the kidnap and sexual assault of a child by a stranger - yet we spent the first few days trying to convince the media, and consequently the public, that it had actually happened as described to us."

DCI Napier and his team struggled to win support for their investigation

The victim had spent the afternoon of 27 December playing in the snow.

Afterwards she shared a bath with her brother, before he was taken into the living room to be dressed.

Like many Tyneside flats, the bathroom is at the rear of the property and Voisey, watching from the alley, was able to observe the family's movement through the frosted window.

When he saw the girl's brother being carried out of the bathroom, he quickly entered the house via the unlocked back door.

House layout

Shortly afterwards, her mother heard the screeching of car tyres, then found her daughter was missing.

Det Ch Insp Napier said: "Those who hadn't seen the layout of the house could well doubt what had happened.

"We were certain that she had been taken by a stranger, but it took some time to convince other people."

Voisey drove the six-year-old around North Tyneside and subjected her to a range of repeated sexual assaults before abandoning her.

He was convicted at Newcastle Crown court on Friday.