Salford sex assault: police want to speak to man with guitar after woman ‘pinned to bench’

Detectives investigating the sexual assault of a woman in Salford last week have released an image of a man they are keen to speak to in relation to the incident.

The woman - in her 20s - was walking home from work in the early hours of Wednesday 9 March when she was approached by a man who continued to follow her before pinning her to a bench on Stanley Street - near the border with Manchester city centre.

The man then touched the woman but she was able to scream and the man walked off.

Police made a number of enquiries - including with CCTV - and have released an image of a man that appears to be carrying a guitar on his back who was walking close to the area half-an-hour before the incident is believed to have taken place at around 1.30-1.40am.

What have police said?

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Willis, of the Salford District, said “This was a traumatic and shocking incident for the victim to endure and we credit her bravery for firstly getting the offender away from her and subsequently reporting this incident to us.

“We’ve put a great deal of time into conducting a number of enquiries - including with CCTV - and we are hopeful that the man on the image will be identified so that we are able to speak to him about this incident as we think he could hold some very important information.

“It’s our understanding that this man may have been in Manchester city centre for some time before this incident took place and we are still working to establish where he may have been before we see him on this image at about 1am walking in the direction of the Salford border.

“He appears to be wearing a guitar bag on his back and should be distinctive for anyone that may have been walking on Oxford Road or the proximity of the city centre on the night of Tuesday 8 March going into the early hours of Wednesday 9 March.

“If you have any information then please call us on 0161 856 5235 or 0161 856 5194 quoting incident 193 of 09/03/2022; you can also pass information to us anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

• Anyone affected by this story can contact Greater Manchester Rape Crisis for support on 0161 273 4500.