HandoutA latex-clad stranger – dubbed, apparently, ‘Gimp Man’ – is still on the loose more than a year after he first jumped out on locals, despite a police helicopter search and two arrests.
The unidentified man was first spotted in a quiet Somerset village in November 2018, and in the following months police went on to receive a further 13 reports of disturbing incidents involving a man in disguise.
The latest sighting was in July 2019, when 23-year-old Abi Conroy said the stranger charged at her in a ‘full black rubbery’ outfit while ‘grunting and breathing heavily’ and ‘touching his groin’.
PixabayPolice launched a search involving a helicopter and sniffer dogs, and two men were arrested on suspicion of being the offender.
A police spokesperson gave an update on the search in November last year, saying:
Detectives carried out a thorough investigation into a series of incidents in which a man wearing disguises approached people in the Claverham/Yatton area.
Two men, aged 28 and 34, were arrested on suspicion of indecency offences but due to insufficient evidence were later released with no further action taken against them.
Thankfully, we’ve not received any more reports of similar incidents since the most recent report of a man wearing a black body suit approaching a woman on July 11.
HandoutPolice are yet to identify the offender – who they’ve dubbed ‘Gimp Man’, according to Cambridgeshire Live – and no further arrests have been made.
Following the sighting in July, Abi told the BBC she sees the rubber-clad man ‘every time’ she closes her eyes.
Recalling the incident, the 23-year-old said:
I was walking along with my torch and looked up to see someone charging at me in a full black rubbery suit and managed to take a picture. He kept coming towards me and was touching his groin, grunting and breathing heavy. [sic]
As I tried to take a step back he was right in front of my face and he put his leg forward. I was just trying to assess the situation in my head quickly.
Everything was running through my head. I thought: ‘This is it, I’m going to get attacked’. I was looking round thinking, oh my god.
HandoutAbi pushed and screamed at the man before he started running backwards to the main road.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police told UNILAD there have been no further updates on the situation since November, hopefully suggesting the rubber-clad man has given up terrorising locals.
Anyone with information on the incidents is urged to call 101 and provide the call handler with the reference 5219158435.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.