Police hunt girl's vicious sex attacker

That was the appeal to the public this week from the senior detective leading the hunt for a vicious sex attacker.

The man grabbed an eight-year-old girl by the throat, announced his evil intentions in explicit terms and attempted to make off with her.

Detective Inspector Trevor Bowles, head of Rother CID and leading the investigation, told the Observer: "This case is as bad as it gets, frankly.

"This is a very, very lucky little girl - it could so easily have turned out differently."

The attacker's intended victim and a friend were playing in Woodsgate Avenue on Sunday evening.

There are bushes along the quiet, unadopted avenue between London Road and Springfield Road.

As part of their game, the two had separated. The attacker - a ginger-haired man in his 40s - seized this moment to pounce. Her grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up but released his grip after a few seconds.

She managed to escape, but only after he had further threatened her.

It is believed that only the shrieks of the victim's friend as she returned to see what was happening saved the little girl from being dragged off.

The victim ran home. She was later seen by a paediatrician at the Conquest Hospital and treated for bruises to the neck.

After an afternoon spent together with specially trained officers gently questioning the victim in Senlac Divison's family suite at Battle police station, Detective Inspector Bowles emerged in grim mood on Monday.

He: "We are treating this inquiry as a case of attempted abduction.