'REIGN OF TERROR'
Rape suspect linked to NINE more attacks including a 71-year-old woman and 11-year-old boy
A SERIAL rape suspect has been linked to nine other sex attacks - including on an elderly woman and an 11-year-old boy.
Joseph McCann, 34, was arrested this morning after a dramatic police chase which began when two girls, both aged 14, were forced into a car in Congleton, Cheshire.
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But now the Metropolitan Police have said they are also quizzing McCann in relation to other offences around England - potentially bringing his attacks to 12.
Among the alleged offences, which are said to have taken place in Cheshire, Manchester, London, Hertfordshire and Lancashire, are an 11-year-old boy and 71-year-old woman.
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin, from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "At this early stage, there are believed to be nine further victims following the attacks in Hertfordshire and London.
“These attacks were grotesque and horrifying. These victims are now being supported by specialist officers.
“Further details concerning specific offences will become clearer in due course.
“I would urge any other victims to come forward. We also need to hear from anyone who has been approached or been in contact with McCann.”
McCann linked to string of other sex attacks
April 21, 3.30am: A woman, aged in her twenties, was abducted and raped in a residential address in Watford.
April 25, 12.30am: A woman, aged in her twenties, was abducted and raped in a car in Chingford.
April 25, 12.15pm: A woman, aged in her twenties, was abducted and raped in a car in Edgware.
May 5, 8am: A woman aged in her thirties was falsely imprisoned at a location in Haslingden, Lancashire. In the same incident a teenage girl and boy, aged 11, were raped.
May 5, 1.30pm: A woman aged 71 years was abducted and raped in Bury, Manchester.
May 5, 3.30pm: Two 13-year-old boys and 13-year-old girl were abducted in Heywood, Manchester. The 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted.
May 5, afternoon: Two teenage girls were forced into a car in Congleton, Cheshire, but were not sexually assaulted.
May 5, 6.30pm: Two 14-year-old girls were forced into a car in Congleton, Cheshire. They were not sexually assaulted.
The appeal for people to come forward comes after the chilling footage emerged showing the fugitive rape suspect casually strolled into a petrol station after allegedly abducting his first victim at knifepoint.
McCann, 34, wanted for three rapes in southeast England, is now in custody after two more women were abducted 150 miles away in Cheshire yesterday evening.
Hertfordshire Police said the first woman was approached at about 3.30am on Sunday April 21 in Hagden Lane, Watford, driven about for six hours in a blue Ford Mondeo and then raped.
The ordeal was reported to police the following day.
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Exclusive footage obtained by The Sun Online showed McCann pull into a BP garage in Watford just after 9am on April 21.
A young woman, believed to be his first victim, was in the passenger seat of his Ford Mondeo.
McCann pulled up at pump number two of the station and got out of the vehicle.
He could be seen speaking to her while stood on the forecourt.
The fugitive, who was wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and a black t shirt, quickly put a dark baseball cap on and strolled into the shop.
CCTV, which is being reviewed by police, then showed him walking into the shop and asking a staff member for cashback on his debit card.
SIX HOUR ORDEAL
McCann was told to use the cashpoint but he was he unable to do so because it wasn’t working.
He then exchanged words with the worker, left the building and got back into his car and drove off.
The footage was taken on April 21 at around 9am - around six hours after the 21-year-old woman was abducted and attacked in Watford.
The sex attack is being linked to two other rapes in Chingford and Edgware in North London that are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
McCann allegedly snatched two women in their 20s off the streets in north London on April 25.
He is also suspected of abducting a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in Watford in the early hours of April 21 and raping her.
STAND OFF WITH COPS
He was arrested near Congleton last night after a standoff with officers.
Both women were abducted and taken to a hotel in Watford during a 12-hour window by a man in a silver or grey-coloured Ford S-Max people carrier with false registration plates.
The first woman was taken from the street in Chingford at 12.30am on April 25.
The second victim had been snatched from the street in Edgware, north London, at 12.15pm.
They were driven to a hotel where the man attempted to book a room at around 1pm. They left when this was unavailable.
They managed to escape after smashing a vodka bottle over the attacker's head and ran to the safety of a shop.
In the latest incident yesterday, two women were forced into a black Fiat Punto in Congleton town centre.
After a car chase and further searches, McCann was found in a tree on a rural lane near the town.
Watford triple rape suspect Joseph McCann ‘in custody’ after two more women snatched in Cheshire
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Negotiators along with paramedics were deployed to the scene and McCann was eventually taken into custody in the early hours of Monday morning.
Police said the women had been left "extremely shaken" as a result of their ordeal but were unhurt.
Cops believe McCann, who has a "distinctive" tattoo of the name "bobbie" on his stomach, was being hidden by a friend or family member.
A reward of £20,000 was offered for McCann's capture.
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Police at the scene following the arrest of Watford triple rape suspect Joseph McCann
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