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Local news CCTV traps rapist Apr 28 2005 By Mark Cowan |
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A rapist was today caught
attacking a terrified woman, thanks to security
cameras set up in the wake of the Aston shootings.
A CCTV camera operator
raised the alarm after seeing the woman grappling with a man. The operator kept
watch during the woman's ordeal and guided officers to the scene in Birchfield
Road, Aston, Birmingham. The man desperately tried to flee as four police officers
arrived but, after a brief struggle, was pulled to the ground and arrested. A
police spokesman said that thanks to the cameras they got to the incident within
four minutes of it being spotted. The man is now in police custody at Queen's
Road police station where he was due to be quizzed about the incident. The woman
was taken to hospital for treatment. Police will interview her about her ordeal
as soon as possible. The area was sealed off throughout the early hours as police
carried out a search. A police spokeswoman said: "This illustrates the value of
CCTV cameras
and the close working relationship we have with partner agencies." The crimefighting
security camera is one of a dozen that were installed in the area at a cost of
£320,000 following the murders of innocent teenage partygoers Letisha Shakespeare
and Charlene Ellis. They died in a hail of bullets after gangsters opened fire
with a Mac-10 machine gun. Following the shooting, thousands of pounds was earmarked
for state-of-the-art closed circuit cameras as part of a City Council pledge to
boost security along Birchfield Road, with extra funding to keep them operational
until at least 2010. The bullet-proof
cameras were put up on reinforced steel columns after local residents and
traders said they were too frightened to have them put on the sides of their properties.
Before then, CCTV schemes in Aston had been hit by severe vandalism, with a number
of cameras uprooted, smashed, and burnt down. From IC
Birmingham. |
