Holly and Peter O’Brien feel the police need to give out more information (Image: w8media)
Locals in a UK town say they feel unsafe following the alleged gang rape of a woman outside a church. A woman claims she was raped by several men outside the Methodist church in Epsom after leaving a nearby nightclub in the early hours of Saturday. Protestors took to the streets on Wednesday, demanding details from the police about the alleged attackers.
“I don’t feel safe,” said Holly O’Brien, who works for the local council. “We’ve got two young children. I don’t feel safe anymore.” She told The Daily Express that anger is “only going to build”, and there is a risk of people being “misinformed”. Holly’s husband, Peter, also 40, said the market town prides itself on being “friendly and safe”, and the majority of people you would meet in the area are middle-aged and educated.
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Police vehicles were seen in the town centre today following a protest on Wednesday (Image: w8media)
He said: “When I read what I read, if that was my daughter, I’m not an aggressive man, but I would quite easily take his arm off, take his leg, not murder, and that’s coming from someone who is measured and calculated.
“I felt very much that I would get the b*******.”
Shèna Winchester, 54, has lived on the Epsom Downs for 19 years.
She said: “This is Epsom. It’s got a great reputation, it’s a great place to live.
“It’s usually quite safe.”
The singer’s 18-year-old son implored her not to stay out late on her own upon hearing of the alleged rape.
Ms Winchester said that people are “pointing the finger” and should not jump to conclusions by stereotyping.
Ms Winchester’s son has implored her not to stay out at night (Image: w8media)
Nicole Reis, 40, a catering assistant at Epsom Hospital, said those finishing work late are forced to walk through the town because of “short” bus routes.
“It’s very unsafe,” she said.
“Obviously, you don’t feel safe,” a 63-year-old woman, who has lived in the town for 12 years and wished to remain anonymous, said in the high street.
Nicole Reis says NHS employees have to walk through the town centre in the dark (Image: w8media)
A 64-year-old trader, who has been in Epsom for 30 years and wished to remain anonymous, spoke of the protestors: “I think they’re just waiting for something from the police, that’s all it is.
“The guy on the mic last night was saying to the police, ‘Why can’t you tell us?’
“People just need to know.
“Can you imagine, on Saturday night, young girls will want to go to the club, and their parents won’t let them go.”
The area’s Liberal Democrat MP, Helen Maguire, said after a service at the church that the protest the day before was “incredibly disappointing” and was “organised by people from outside Epsom, who were trying to use this as a way to whip up their divisiveness”.
She added: “What we really need to be doing is talking about the safety of women.”
Speaking about the police investigation, Ms Maguire said: “They can only release information they have – this is a live investigation.
“It’s really important that we don’t do anything to prejudice the case, and we need to make sure that they’ve got the time and space to do the investigation properly.”
Police said yesterday that they do not have enough information to release descriptions of suspects (Image: w8media)
She added: “It’s really important that we allow the police to have the time and space to conduct their investigation.
“There is absolutely no point releasing any information until we know exactly what’s happened.”
The Reverend Catherine Hutton, the church’s minister, said the protest “wasn’t ideal”.
She added: “I got off the train around five o’clock, as some of the chaps were gathering, and there was a real sense of fear, as I pushed my way through them, to be able to go about my business, and that was when the gathering was quite small.
“It’s not an ideal way to conduct a protest.
“I think anything that makes people more fearful isn’t achieving the ends that it sets out for.”
At the moment, Reverend Hutton said, the story being told is not of Epsom “being the place of the races, a place where there’s new shops, a place of good coffee, a place of good community”.
“Instead, it’s just got the word rape over all of its headlines, and that really upsets me,” she added.
On the ongoing police investigation, the minister said: “Until we have the definitive understanding of who perpetrated the crime, then it would be foolish to speculate, and speculation, keyboard warrioring, leads down dead ends, and I think just fires up people’s prejudices.”
People gathered in Epsom yesterday to demand more information from police (Image: Getty)
Surrey Police said yesterday: “We are aware that there is continued concern amongst the local community following a report of a rape which we received in the early hours on Saturday (11 April).
“We would like to reassure you that we are working diligently to establish the sequence of events and to clarify the circumstances and the details of those involved in the incident, which is reported to have taken place between 2am and 4am outside Epsom Methodist Church on Ashley Road.
“As part of this investigation, we have already interviewed a number of witnesses and carried out extensive house-to-house enquiries. We are also reviewing CCTV footage from the route the victim took around the time of the incident to build a picture of what happened.
“Unfortunately, at this stage, we still do not have sufficient information to release the descriptions of the suspects. However, we are continuing to work with the victim, who is being supported by a specialist Sexual Offences Liaison Officer through the process, to progress these enquiries.”
The Daily Express has contacted Surrey Police for comment.