London - A young woman who fought off a would-be rapist outside her home brought the man to justice after tracking him down on Facebook.
Chanel Purchase, 21, spent hours trawling through the website shortly after her ordeal to find a photo of the stranger who attacked her after accompanying her home from a nightclub.
He never gave his name but she remembered he had mentioned some mutual friends.
Checks on her computer led to her spotting a photo of James Huggett, 22, who was arrested the next day after she handed details to police. He denied attempted rape but was convicted last week following a trial.
Miss Purchase - who waived her right to anonymity to discuss the case - on Wednesday revealed that she turned detective within hours of the attack.
‘It should have been the police’s job to find him but I wanted it over and done with,’ she said. ‘It wouldn’t have been easy to identify him if I hadn’t found the picture so I think I helped solve the case.’
The assault happened after Miss Purchase left a club in Sheerness, Kent, to walk home. ‘He approached me outside and asked for a lighter,’ she said.
‘We got talking and he asked for my number but he didn’t tell me his name. I said I was going to go home and he asked if I wanted to go with him - I just laughed it off.’
She allowed the young man to walk her home and she was yards away from her door when he pushed her to the ground and pulled down her leggings and underwear before trying to rape her. He fled when she struggled and screamed.
Maidstone Crown Court was told that a neighbour looked out of the window after hearing what she thought was a scuffle between two people.
Prosecutor Simon Taylor said she heard a woman on the ground shout: ‘Get off me. If you don’t get off me, I’ll scream.’ When the man ran away, the neighbour realised the victim was her neighbour.
Miss Purchase was interviewed that night by police, who also took DNA swabs. As soon as she returned home she started hunting through Facebook because her attacker had mentioned some mutual friends.
‘He didn’t have a Facebook profile so I spent about three hours going through other people’s photos until I found a picture with him in it,’ she said. She told police and Huggett was arrested the next day. He claimed in court that he was a victim of mistaken identity, and initially denied ever meeting Miss Purchase.
But when his DNA matched samples found on her, he said they ‘cuddled and kissed on the cheeks’ before he left.
Huggett also admitted giving a false alibi to police that he had stayed with a friend on the night of the attack.
He later claimed he had been at his parents’ house but said he hadn’t wanted to involve them because they were struggling to get over the death of his brother in a motorcycle accident two months previously. Detective Constable Gavin Humphrey said Miss Purchase responded to her ‘horrifying ordeal’ with ‘an incredible amount of bravery and determination’. He added: ‘Her efforts in identifying Huggett allowed police to secure an arrest within six to seven hours of the incident.’
Huggett, of Minster on Sea, Kent, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on January 11.
Daily Mail