In 1989, Droitwich women were in fear of using an underpass which was the scene of three sexual assaults in the space of one month.

The attacker struck beneath the Saltway / Worcester Road junction, and on the third occasion he held a 12-inch kitchen knife to his victim’s throat.

Droitwich police launched one of their biggest ever manhunts but the offender escaped justice.

Seventeen months later another woman was assaulted in the same subway and at the same time of day. But her screams alerted nearby builders and office workers who gave chase and cornered the attacker. 

A solicitor from the West Midlands was arrested and later sentenced to seven years in prison. He admitted carrying out seven other assaults in the Midlands.