'Horrific' attack on teenager

A 16-year-old girl was gang raped by three men after being abducted off the street.

The college student was returning home after visiting a cash machine in South Norwood High Street when a man grabbed her from behind and bundled her into a car with blacked-out windows.

There were three other men in the dark green car, which detectives believe may have been a Volkswagen Golf. The girl was driven to a car park at the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace, where three of the four men took turns to rape her in a horrific ordeal which lasted for more than an hour.

Investigating officer Detective Inspector Nick Downing said the teenager had been snatched from the street and bundled into a car in an "apparently opportunist and brazen attack". Police have seized footage from CCTV cameras covering the car park and the route taken by the rapists.

Mr Downing said: "The victim is your average 16-year-old. I would not call her streetwise at all and all her attackers are believed to be older than her.

"She found herself in one of the most horrific situations anyone could be in. She was snatched off the street and she certainly did not know any of her attackers.

"She was not seriously physically injured but she is very traumatised. We are working with her and her family in terms of counselling to avoid prolonging an ordeal she should never have had."

The girl was abducted at about 5.30pm on Friday from Warminster Road, approximately 50 yards from the junction with Lancaster Road.

After the attack, the suspects - all said to be black and aged about 20 - drove off with the victim still in the car.

But when they reached the junction with Anerley Hill at about 6.45pm, she managed to jump out and run to safety.

Mr Downing said that the original motive for abductingthe girl may have been robbery. "This was early evening and it was quite brazen," he said. "It was apparently opportunistic. There is no suggestion they had been stalking her.

"There is no suggestion of drink, drugs or weapons being involved. They said nothing of significance to her. I think they were possibly looking at robbery. But nothing was stolen from her."

Police said the girl, who is white and lives locally, was wearing a white coat when she was attacked.

Mr Downing added: "She was in a busy street when she took the opportunity to escape. Someone must have seen her getting out of the car." He said it was possible the men had struck before. " They went straight to the car park. It may mean they have been there before."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 020 8649 1379.