Thames Valley Police has confirmed that it is “not seeking anyone” in relation to a churchyard gang-rape despite offering a description of the alleged attacker just days ago.
The force said a woman, in her 30s, was raped by a group of men in the churchyard of St Mary’s in Banbury in the early hours of Sunday.
However in a recent update, the force said that they found “no evidence the offence took place as reported”, and confirmed a search for the alleged attackers had been halted.
it is understood that the intial report was made to the police via a third party.
A spokesman for the authority said: “A Thames Valley Police investigation into an alleged rape in Banbury last weekend has found no evidence the offence took place as reported.
“Therefore, we are not currently seeking anyone in relation to this investigation.
“The original report was made to us by a third party, who stated that a woman had been raped by a group of men in St Mary’s Church churchyard in the early hours of Sunday morning (28/9).
“We continue to support the woman involved.”
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Just days ago, Detective Sergeant Mark Personius, who described the alleged incident as a “horrific crime”, urged members of the public “who saw or heard anything” to contact the police.
He said at the time: “Thames Valley Police is conducting a thorough investigation to identify the offenders.”
“We are supporting the victim with specifically trained officers at this extremely difficult time.”
Mr Personius said the town centre “would have been busy on a Saturday night into the early hours of a Sunday morning”.
Police previously appealed for anyone to come forward with information
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GOOGLE MAPSHe added: “Therefore, I would also appeal to anyone else who saw or heard anything in the area between 12am and 2.30am this morning [Sunday] to come forward.”
In an update on Monday morning, the force then gave a vague description of one of the alleged offenders, confirming that they are a white man.
Urging the public to end speculation, police said. “We are aware of speculation circulating about the possible ethnic background or origin of the individuals connected to this incident.”
“At this stage, we have no further verified description of those involved.”
A third party made the report, police confirm
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PAPolice added: “Any assumptions being made are unfounded and unhelpful to the investigation.”
“We can confirm there is no information at this stage to link this investigation to migrant accommodation”.
“We urge the public to refrain from speculation.”
In response to the incident, the church cancelled Sunday’s parish Eucharist.