There is no family in this county that has not been taken aback at the brazenness of the person or persons who are carrying out the attacks on women in the Athlone area at the moment.
Indeed, leaving aside his obviously vicious nature, it is even more disturbing to realise that this man is willing to continue his attacks at a time when vigilance is being exercised by many in the town.
As yet there is no indication that the attacks are linked, but surely it is even more incredible or frightening to think that there are several people willing to risk being caught and willing to carry out these attacks.
There is no doubt that no matter how isolated a life the attacker or attackers may lead, they must be creating a trail of clues or spinning a web of suspicion that is obvious to those who are closest to them. No matter how isolated the attacker may be socially, surely there is something that will give him away, and the sooner that is detected the better.
That is why Supt Glacken’s appeal this week for people to be vigilant of those who fit the description and report anything suspicious should be heeded by all of us. This attacker is brazen enough, stupid enough, or deranged enough to continue his list of crimes and there is nothing to say that the next victim will not be your daughter, sister, or friend. So we all have an interest in seeing this attacker apprehended.
When one reads an account of all the serial attackers who have been caught in this country, there is always a stage mid-spree where the attacker just manages to evade capture — a small detail, a dubious alibi, a witness who dismisses it as being insignificant.
Now that the Athlone attacker is showing a blatant disregard for us all, he will undoubtedly have created a pattern; and this is recognised by the detectives who have used a profiler to try and build up a picture of who exactly we are looking for.
It is incumbent on all of us to take up the phone and ring in whatever little suspicion we may have. The Gardai are professional enough to know what may or may not be relevant to their enquiry. Let them decide that. While the dark clothing exhibited on the model at the local Garda station will be of little help in identifying the attacker, we urge all of our readers to read all of the details issued by the Gardai and contact them if you feel you have any small idea of who this person may be. If you have any information please contact the Gardai at (090 ) 6492609.
While there is little to be gained from scaremongering, the sad fact is that this attacker has taken away a little liberty from all of us, men or women, because his actions have made the streets of Athlone and throughout the county a lot.
DECLAN VARLEY
Group Editor
