Rapist texted victim’s mother after brutal attack
The man gave a graphic account on the mobile phone he stole from the 15-year-old girl.
It also emerged yesterday that the rapist and a second man who battered three boys with the girl delivered a chilling warning during the terrifying ordeal in west Belfast.
Elaine Captain, whose son was one of the youths beaten, said: “They said on their way into the golf course, ‘this is where it’s going to get messy’.”
Her 15-year-old boy had been chased home from the scene of the second attack at Colin Valley Golf Centre after escaping on Saturday morning.
He had been stripped to the waist and forced to watch along with two young friends as the girl, who is from the north of England but holidaying in Belfast, was raped by a man armed with a screwdriver.
Cash and mobile phones were stolen from the group before the girl was first dragged into a petrol station forecourt and subjected to a harrowing sexual assault.
They were then ordered up a driveway to the golf complex where the girl was raped again.
Police were only alerted once the injured and traumatised boy managed to break free and get to his house a short distance away.
Ms Captain said: “He was pursued by one of them and didn’t stop until he got to our back door, his face was scratched and swollen and his eyes were staring all over the place. I’ve never seen him traumatised like that. Everything was just blurted out in a garble, telling me he had just seen his friend raped and that she could be dead or stabbed now.”
The four victims had been staying together at one of their families’ homes, but had sneaked out after their parents went to sleep.
But according to Mrs Captain, a 49-year-old civil servant, what had started out as an innocent adventure turned into a total nightmare.
“The kids in their naivety thought it was a nice night, let’s go for a walk.”
Detectives hunting the rapist and his partner, both thought to be in their late teens, have already arrested one man and later released him until further inquiries are carried out.
Phone records are also being examined in a bid to trace either of the two mobiles understood to have been stolen during the attack.
Chief Superintendent Ken Henning dismissed speculation that the young girl’s family were unaware she had travelled to Northern Ireland.
He also disclosed how the girl’s mother at first thought the gloating message was a twisted joke.
“The individual who carried out the rape made a phone call and sent a text message to the girl’s mother, describing in graphic detail what had happened,” he said. “She thought it was a prankster, but then it began to sink in and it became very apparent that this actually happened. The parents are absolutely distraught.”
Police have urged the rapist and his accomplice to give themselves up. Their families were also challenged to bring them in if they suspected any involvement.
The rapist is believed to be about 5ft 8in, with a scar above his right eyebrow and chipped or decaying teeth.
The man who beat the boys while he carried out his attack has his left ear pierced and wore at least one sovereign-type ring.
