The man threw a woman and sexually assaulted her in the park while her little boy screamed

The victim kicked down and bit her attacker before she managed to free and run with her son

A man threw a woman and sexually assaulted in a park, while her terrified son was screaming. John Whitfield took the victim from behind in a wooded area and tried to rape her as she desperately fought during the horror attack in July last year.

The victim was in the park with her young son when she saw Whitfield, 37, hanging nearby. Minutes later, she reappeared and came behind her before trying to rape her and commit other sexual assaults, said Cheshire Constabulary.

The victim then fought back hitting and biting Whitfield. As she tried to free herself, her son was screaming nearby. He managed to free himself and grab his son before running to the safety.

As he ran, he noticed that Whitfield’s mobile phone was on the ground and lifted him before approaching another woman near help.

The victim gave the police a description of her attacker, and Warrington’s response officers made questions for the offender. The high victim’s phone helped to identify Whitfield and was arrested at home in one hour.

CCTV recovered by detectives during the investigation identified the clothing that Whitfield wore at the time of attack. Whitfield changed from that clothing until he was arrested, but found the clothing hidden behind a shed in the back garden.

Whitfield was accused of attempted rape, sexual assault and penetration aggression and was guilty of Liverpool Crown Court on August 28, 2024.

He was sentenced on February 28 to Liverpool Crown Court to life imprisonment and must serve at least 4 years 137 days before being taken into account for conditions of conditional freedom.

If the Conditional Liberty Council considers that it is appropriate to be issued at some point in the future, it will be on the license endlessly and will return to prison if it is restored. It also handed out an indefinite restriction order to prevent it from contacting the victim.

DS Dave Gerrard from Cheshire police said: “I would like to recognize the incredible power and courage of his victim and his family throughout the investigation. The victim and witness who stopped helping her were vital to our efforts to make sure Whitfield has confronted with justice for this horrible crime.

“Our response officers used the initiative from the moment they arrived on the spot, collecting vital evidence that would quickly take us to the suspect. Our detectives and forensic staff then raised and led the investigation, compiling convincing and overwhelming evidence that Whitfield was the man responsible for this terrible crime, which led to his guilty plea.

“Our officers and staff are a formidable force and are proud of the case they built against Whitfield. They made sure that a dangerous individual is in prison where he belongs.

“I hope this provides residents that, when, when there are terrible incidents like this, rarely, but unfortunately, we are on the front foot, in our decision to protect the public finding the person responsible for such horrible crimes.”