‘No evidence’ that woman was gang raped sparking violent protests in Epsom

Detectives investigating an alleged rape of a woman outside of a church after she left a nightclub said there is no evidence the incident took place as reported or that any immigrants or asylum seekers were involved.

Surrey police said earlier this week a woman in her 20s reported being attacked by a group of men on her way home from Labyrinth night club in the early hours of Saturday outside Epsom Methodist Church.

They added the rape was believed to have taken place between 2am and 4am and left the victim ‘very shaken’.

It led to protests in the streets of the Surrey town after rumours circulated online that the suspects involved were asylum seekers.

However the police have said they’ve not found any evidence yet that the rape took place or that asylum seekers or immigrants were involved.

Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing, Sarah Grahame, said in a statement: ‘Over the past week, there has been widespread speculation and commentary regarding this report. We are aware of the strength of feeling this has created, and of the frustration caused by our limited public comment on the matter.

‘During this time, we have been investigating in depth to establish the sequence of events and to clarify the circumstances surrounding the reported incident. We have reviewed an extensive amount of CCTV footage from the area.

‘We have also been interviewing potential witnesses, carrying out forensics investigations and conducting house-to-house enquiries. To date, we have not found any evidence of the offence as reported but the investigation is ongoing.

‘There has been much speculation about the non-release of a description of any suspects, especially regarding the ethnicity. No descriptions have been released as the information about the incident and potential suspects is so limited. To address the specific commentary, there is no evidence that asylum seekers or immigrants were involved.

‘We appreciate that you want information. We will continue to tell you as much as we can, to engage with you, to reassure you and to address concerns. We ask for space and time to work through the investigation.

‘There will be an increased police presence in Epsom over the weekend.’

Following the protests, Reverend Catherine Hutton, who is the vicar of the church where the alleged attack took place, she hoped to reunite the community of Epsom with a ‘service of hope’.

Rev Hutton, who witnessed the protests, said: ‘It was mainly men and it was intimidating for women. On footage I saw, they were targeting a woman police officer.

‘Of course, I support the right to protest, but this went too far.’

Rev Hutton added that she believed many of the protesters had traveled from outside Epsom, describing the town as a ‘diverse, tolerant community’ that was being unfairly disrupted.

Anyone with any information or any CCTV, dashcam, or helmet camera footage should contact Surrey Police online via 101 quoting PR/45260041426.

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