Detectives investigating an alleged rape of a woman outside of a church after she left a nightclub said they haven’t found any evidence yet in the case.
Surrey Police said last week a woman, in her 20s, reported she was attacked outside Epsom Methodist Church by a group of men after leaving Labyrinth Epsom nightclub in the early hours of Saturday morning.
They added the rape was believed to have taken place between 2am and 4am and left the victim ‘very shaken’, the force added.
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.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
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.’
Anyone with any information or any CCTV, dashcam, or helmet camera footage should contact Surrey Police online via 101 quoting PR/45260041426.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.