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A 19 year old man has pleaded guilty to two sex attacks in Blackburn earlier this year. Lee Anthony Nield, 19, an unemployed man of Rockcliffe Street, Blackburn, appeared at Preston Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday, July 2) and admitted sexual assault, two counts of actual bodily harm and rape. He also admitted carrying out a sex attack in October last year in a churchyard in Larkhill, Blackburn after fibres linked him to this offence. The charges relate to the two incidents on the shortcut linking Lower Audley Street and Whitendale Crescent. At 6.45pm on Thursday, February 14 a 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on a bridge which goes over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal before she broke free and escaped to raise the alarm. On Friday at 9pm, a 16-year-old girl was walking along the same path - close to the scene of the first attack. Nield approached, pushed her to the ground and raped her. He was arrested the next night following a police surveillance operation in the area of the attacks. When he was caught he had on him socks, gloves and a length of cord. His early arrest prevented further attacks. Detective Chief Inspector Neil Hunter, who led the investigation, said: "These were wicked offences carried out on complete strangers, young teenage girls innocently making their way home after nights out. I have no doubt Nield would have gone on to commit further attacks were it not for the proactive police operation put in place to catch the offender. The excellent work of officers helped prevent a third victim." Nield will be sentenced at a later date. www.lancashire.police.uk |
