POLICE are following up a number of leads after an interview with a teenage rape victim from Poole was aired on national television during the summer.

As reported in the Daily Echo, Dawn Clark waived her right to anonymity in a bid to catch the man who attacked her in 1982 when she was just 15.

Dawn appeared in the BBC Crimewatch Roadshow in July.

Now a grandmother-of-two, Dawn told the Echo she has been left haunted by the rape, which took place as she walked alone in the east Alderney area of Poole on May 3 1982.

She had left a friend's home in Northmere Drive at 8.45pm on the day of the offence to walk home with another girl.

Dawn and her friend parted company at a footpath in St Brelades Avenue, which leads to a piece of common land and the subway under Ringwood Road. As she reached the common, Dawn saw a man she did not recognise.

The man asked for information about the next bus before initially allowing her to walk on.

However, he then followed her, holding a knife against her throat and taking her into a wooded area, where he raped her.

The man, who would now be a pensioner, is described as white, aged between 25 and 30 years old, five feet six inches tall, of medium build and with a pale complexion. He had straight sandy-coloured hair which was parted on the left with a flick of hair across his forehead, and a full bristly blond beard with small moustache that was barely noticeable.

He wore square gold-rimmed glasses, black trousers of a heavy material and black lace-up shoes. He also had a dark brown or black jacket which was waist-length, padded with a smooth material, sleeves with elasticated robbed cuffs and a front fastening with poppers and a small fold down collar and red checked lining.

He was carrying carrier bags, which he put down on the ground before the rape and took away with him afterwards.

A spokesperson from Dorset Police said: "We received a number of responses following the Crimewatch appeal which we continue to follow up and our investigations are continuing."

Detective Inspector Neil Phillips, of Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team, said officers have a DNA sample of the offender.

“I am convinced that someone knows who was responsible for this crime and I would urge them to contact us or Crimestoppers anonymously," he said.

Anyone with information should contact the force via dorset.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting 55160162337.

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