THE victim of an horrific rape and abduction from a supermarket car park heard gunshots every 10 seconds, the police have revealed.

Laurence Cawley

THE victim of an horrific rape and abduction from a supermarket car park heard gunshots every 10 seconds, the police have revealed.

Suffolk police is maintaining its high-visibility presence in Brandon, almost a week after the rape and abduction of a 21-year-old woman from Tesco's car park.

The victim was in the car park on London Road at around 2.15pm last Saturday, and was called over by a male asking for help with heavy bags. She helped him load a blue holdall into a 4x4 vehicle - at this point she was threatened with a knife and pushed inside, and ordered to lie down.

Her abductor then drove her to a remote location about 20 minutes away, where he raped her, before returning her to Wimbledon Avenue in Brandon later that afternoon.

The offender is described as white, in his late 50s or early 60s, about 5ft 3 in tall, of medium build with a pot belly. He has bushy white/grey sideburns, with heavy grey facial hair and a ruddy complexion. He was wearing a red woolly hat, a red fleece, black tracksuit bottoms, trainers and glasses. He was generally dirty and smoked roll ups.

The car is described as an older style dark coloured 4x4 with front seats only, a row of four blue spotlights on a bull bar at the front, and a rear door rather than a boot. It is believed the car was in Tesco's car park when the female arrived to go shopping.

Detectives are renewing their appeal for information as the one-week anniversary of the incident approaches. Detective Chief Inspector David Cutler says, “We have so far received around 130 calls and e-mails in to the incident room, and I would like to thank the public for their help so far. A number of lines of enquiry are being worked on as a result of these calls. House to house visits are also being carried out in Brandon between Wimbledon Avenue and Manor Road, where the victim managed to raise the alarm.

“We are continuing to identify locations where commercial and private CCTV may be in Brandon, and have started to visit those premises to make initial viewings and take tapes away to be viewed. We are hoping these images will help to establish the route the car took into Brandon to Tesco; where the offender drove with the victim in the back; and where he went after leaving her in Wimbledon Avenue. Officers are painstakingly going through hours of footage from across the town.

“I would continue to urge anyone who has any information about this incident to come forward. Yesterday we issued an E-FIT likeness of a man we urgently need to trace, and anyone who knows him or his whereabouts is asked to contact us immediately.

“We are still seeking information about the location where the victim was taken and subjected to this horrendous ordeal. It is around 20 minutes' drive from Brandon, a small, flimsy building approached along a track with a gate. The victim heard repeated gunshots, every 10 seconds or so, whilst she was at this location - anyone who thinks they may recognise it, or anyone who was out shooting last Saturday afternoon, could hold vital information and I would ask them to call the incident room.”

The incident room can be contacted on 01473 613824 or by e-mail at incident.room@suffolk.pnn.police.uk . Calls can also be made to Suffolk Police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.