COMMENT

NEWS Shopper today brings you the story of a police blunder which could mean a sex offender gets off scot free.

Three women were assaulted two sexually by an attacker in the same week, within around 500 yards of each other, in March.

But details of the attacks have only just been made public by police chiefs.

The reason? Police wanted to "explore other lines of inquiry"

before they went public with a witness appeal. Is this a good enough explanation? We think not.

On March 18, at around 11.55pm, a 44-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in Falmouth Close, Lee.

The next day, at 6pm, a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted after being threatened with a knife in nearby Lee High Road.

And on March 22, a third woman, aged 29, was threatened in Lee Road but managed to flee the attacker.

Three incidents. Same area. One week. Surely someone could help identify this monster? Shame they never got the chance.

Lewisham News Shopper is distributed to more than 80,000 homes every week, including possible witnesses to these crimes.

Immediate witness appeals are crucial to snare criminals. They jog people's memories, create new leads and, ultimately, can help to catch the culprit.

Issuing an appeal three months after the attacks is ludicrous.

Most people can't remember what they were doing this time last week, let alone three months ago.

And what about the attacker? He's hardly going to hang around for three months waiting to be caught is he?

These are shocking crimes but the shambolic way the police have dealt with them is just as bad.

According to investigating officer Detective Constable John Daly: "We decided to go down other lines of enquiry before going down the media route."

Try telling that to the victims, who may never see their attacker caught because of this "procedure".

It is not good enough.

l The attacker is black, and around 16 and 5ft 8in tall. He was wearing dark jogging bottoms and a dark hooded top.

Anyone with information should call the police on 020 8284 8300.