Sex attacker strikes as girl, 18, uses Town footpath

A YOUNG woman was seriously sexually assaulted early on Saturday.

The incident occurred at around 2.30am as the 18-year-old was heading up the walkway which leads from near the Ribshack in St Julian's Avenue to Beauregard Lane, close to the entrance of La Fregate Hotel.

Police described the attacker as white, in his mid 20s, 5ft 3in. to 5ft 4in. tall and of average build.

He was wearing dark clothing that included jeans, had short cropped hair and spoke clearly in English.

The young woman is 5ft 2in. tall with shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing a short, royal blue dress with thin shoulder straps and black shoes. She was carrying a black shoulder bag and also had a short black jacket, which she might not have been wearing at the time of the assault.

A ramp branches off the walkway, rejoining St Julian's Avenue opposite the top of Le Truchot and, following the attack, the offender is thought to have run up the lane.

He might have come back out onto the avenue or continued to Beauregard Lane.

The police emphasised that this was a rare and isolated incident and asked anyone with information about it, even if it seemed insignificant, to come forward. That includes anybody who was in the vicinity of the Ribshack around the time of the incident.