Man in bid to grab girl pupil

1:04pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

A SCHOOLGIRL managed to flee an attacker who tried to force her back to his home.

The 15-year-old Commonweal pupil was walking to school at 8.30am on Monday when a man in his 30s or 40s grabbed hold of her.

Luckily the girl managed to free herself from his grip and ran to school for help.

PC Leanne Kavanagh, who is investigating the incident, said that the shocked victim was able to give police a thorough description of the attacker.

"A schoolgirl was approached by an unknown man in an alleyway near to School, in The Mall, in Swindon," said PC Kavanagh.

"This man tried to entice the girl back to his house and physically took hold of her arm.

"She struggled and managed to break free, running to her school for help.

"Luckily, the girl managed to get away before anything more serious happened. Even so it was obviously quite distressing for her and she did a fantastic job in providing a description.

"She managed to get back to school and raise the alarm with the headteacher.

"It is brilliant that she was able to give us a very good description. We were called straight in and searched the area around the school for the suspect, but he wasn't located.

"But the description is quite distinctive and somebody must know who he is."

The girl told police that the man was white, 30 to 40 years old and 5ft 6ins. He was wearing a light coloured T-shirt, dark coloured baseball cap, three-quarter length camouflage pattern shorts and blue flip flops.

He also had a hearing aid and glasses.

PC Kavanagh said that other Swindon schools would be warned to be on the look out for the man and she urged parents to be cautious.

"We have got a school watch set up by the safety team," said PC Kavanagh.

"I have notified them and they will make sure all of the other schools and parents are made aware of this incident.

"Although this is an isolated incident, police would ask all parents and local residents to be vigilant."

Commonweal School refused to comment about the attack on one of its pupils.

Police are appealing for anyone who knows the man or saw anyone fitting the description near Commonweal School on Monday to contact PC Kavanagh on 0845 408 7000.

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