DETECTIVES who have spent a decade hunting for a serial sex attacker dubbed the Night Stalker have blocked News Shopper’s attempts to get the latest information on the case.
The Met police launched Operation Minstead in the late 90s after a string of vulnerable pensioners around south-east London were attacked in their homes by a masked man.
Officers have described the assailant as a gerontophile - someone who is sexually obsessed with the elderly - and he is wanted for attacks in Orpington, Beckenham, West Wickham, Bickley and Penge.
Pensioners in Sidcup, Catford, Forest Hill, and in the neighbouring borough of Croydon, have also been targeted.
In 2003 he was thought to be responsible for up to 32 burglaries and sex attacks. Last year that figure had risen to 108.
Keen to know how the international manhunt was progressing, News Shopper asked the Met a series of questions about Operation Minstead but were thwarted by staff claiming the answers may hamper the case.
Our questions, asked under the Freedom of Information Act, included how many Minstead-related offences are now being investigated, how many officers have worked on the case since its inception and how much the investigation has cost.
But we were told the answers would threaten the success of Operation Minstead or take too much time and money to process.
A Met Police spokesman said: "It is one of the Met's top priorities to catch this man, and we are doing all we can to make sure that happens."
The Met did reveal that a total of 2,054 DNA samples have been analysed during their inquires at a cost of more than £100,000.
Despite Operation Minstead's lead officer Detective Superintendent Simon Morgan offering a £40,000 reward and capturing the Night Stalker's DNA, no one has ever been arrested.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE NIGHT STALKER
The Night Stalker targets pensioners, both men and women.
Their homes are broken into in the middle of the night and he removes light bulbs, cuts phone lines and shines a torch in his victims’ faces, so they cannot see his face.
He robs them and, in many cases, he also sexually assaults them.
In one attack in Orpington, his victim was so badly injured, she almost died.
The Night Stalker has been described by his victims as a light-skinned black man, about 5ft 11 tall, wearing dark clothing, gloves and a balaclava.
He could be aged anything from mid-20s to mid-40s.
GENETIC CLUES LEAD DETECTIVES ABROAD
DNA research suggested the Night Stalker’s family came from the Caribbean’s lower Winward group of islands, including Barbados, Trinidad, Tobago, St Lucia and St Vincent.
As a result, Operation Minstead sent officers to the islands to liaise with police there and appeal for information.
The Met was able to reveal to News Shopper eight officers went on investigations overseas, but refused to say where, when, why, how long for and how much the trips cost.
It again said trying to recover the information from years of documentation would be too costly and take too long.
Yet newspaper coverage at the time revealed details of one trip which involved five officers, including Mr Morgan, who has been in charge of the investigation since Operation Minstead was launched in 1998, six years after the first attack.
According to the reports, the officers spent eight days visiting Tobago and Barbados in October 2006, at an estimated cost of £10,000.
It is not known whether they returned with any useful information.
WHAT THE MET REFUSED TO ANSWER
How many definite Minstead offences have there been?
How many suspected offences have there been?
When and where was the last definite Operation Minstead offence committed?
When and where was the first definite Operation Minstead offence committed?
How much has Operation Minstead cost since its inception?
How much of the cost has been staff wages?
How many people have been arrested to obtain their DNA?
How many officers have worked on the operation since its inception?
How much in overtime has been claimed by Operation Minstead officers overall and in the last year?
When did officers travel abroad as part of the investigation?
Where did they go?
What was the reason for their trips?
How long did they stay?
How much did each overseas trip cost?
WHAT THE MET DID ANSWER
How many DNA samples have been collected? Answer: 2054 voluntary DNA samples in relation to Operation Minstead
How much has it cost to process them? Answer: Each sample costs approximately £50 to process
How many suspects have been arrested or interviewed where obtaining DNA was not the objective? Answer: None
How many officers are working on Operation Minstead now? Answer: There are currently 20 police officers and nine civilian staff, although the staffing levels vary depending on the workload
How many officers have travelled abroad on Operation Minstead? Answer: Eight officers
WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE NIGHT STALKER?
So, after nearly 18 years is the Met any nearer to catching the Night Stalker? We do not know.
Has he struck in recent weeks, months or years? We do not know.
Do the police have any suspects? We do not know.
Does the Met know how many victims he has claimed? We do not know.
Do the police know how he chooses his victims? We do not know.
Have millions of pounds been wasted and have many elderly people’s lives blighted unnecessarily through Operation Minstead’s incompetence?
We do not know.
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