News, Liverpool
A sex attacker who tried to rape a woman in front of her screaming young son was caught after she managed to grab his phone before he fled the scene.
John Whitfield, 37, grabbed the woman from behind at a park in Birchwood, Warrington, and forced her into a secluded wooded area where he sexually assaulted and tried to rape her.
Cheshire Police said the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, kicked and bit Whitfield and managed to get free.
Whitfield later admitted attempted rape, sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault and was jailed for life with a minimum-term of four years and 137 days at Liverpool Crown Court.
The sentence means Whitfield can only be released after the minimum prison term expires if the Parole Board concludes he no longer poses a risk, and he will remain on licence for the rest of his life.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the woman was playing with her son in the early afternoon when she noticed Whitfield, who at that point was with a friend.
He went out of sight but returned five minutes later when he subjected her to the “terrifying ordeal”.
The CPS and police both praised her “incredible presence of mind” in picking up Whitfield’s phone, which he had dropped on the ground in the struggle.
Whitfield noticed the device was gone and shouted “where’s my phone?” as she fled with her son, the CPS said.
The victim asked another woman in the park for help who comforted her and called the police.
The phone was later used by police, along with witness descriptions, to identify Whitfield and he was arrested at his home in Layton Close, Birchwood, within an hour of the attack.
Scared to go out alone
After Whitfield was sentenced, Det Sgt Dave Gerrard, said: “The victim and the witness who stopped to help her were vital to our efforts to ensure Whitfield faced justice for this horrific crime.”
In a statement to the court, the victim described how she still feels physical pain, is scared to go out alone and lives in fear of being attacked again, the CPS said.
Both the victim and her child needed counselling after the incident, which happened in July last year.
Pauline Newrick, from CPS Mersey-Cheshire’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit, said: “As is so often in these cases, both the victim and her child are struggling to come to terms with what happened on that day and get back to some sort of ‘normal’.”
