D
Deleted member 370899
Guest
I can’t say too much due to court stuff and victims but driving distance from Bath at that time. I am pretty sure he moved south in early 2000’s * edited.
UK UK- "Batman Rapist'', committed 17+ knife point sexual assaults, tight fetish, blindfolds with hairband,1991-2000, Bath, * DNA, Operation Eagle*
- Thread starter dotr
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 57,995
- Reaction score
- 173,856
Feb 10, 2025
en.wikipedia.org
''Victims described their attacker as wearing black clothing and a baseball cap He was slim, clean shaven and was about 5 ft 9 inches tall with blue eyes. He had a scar below his bottom lip. In October 2000, to coincide with the end of British Summer Time, Avon and Somerset Constabulary delivered leaflets to 25,000 homes in Bath—the biggest leaflet drop in the history of British criminal investigation—asking women to complete a checklist about friends, acquaintances, neighbours or relatives who might fit the profile of:
A white male.
Batman rapist - Wikipedia
A white male.
- Slim or medium build.
- Aged between 30 and 50.
- Knew the Bath area well, and had some connection with Bristol, particularly the Kingswood area, and could drive a car.
- Had a fetish for tights and could persuade his consenting sexual partners to wear tights, which he may have ripped during intercourse.
- Sometimes wore a baseball cap.
- Has aroused suspicion with absences from home during the evening and early hours of the morning.
D
Deleted member 370899
Guest
I know. I told the cops about the scar under his lip, showed them pics and everything. This was when he was arrested for the other ones which were slightly different m/o but he even took me to bath once and stopped in some weird alley car park place. I often wonder if it’s where somebody was hurt. It was by a corner charity shop. I’m not from there but might recognise it. The lip- It was more a raised area / slight scar but mostly healed nowadays barely noticeable.but there was something. Big chin dimples and wide jawline. Blue eyes, athletic slim build, he’s 61 now. I’ll see if I can find anything I put on fb about his kids ages tomorrow. That might be why it stopped as he was a house husband for a short time.
- Joined
- May 11, 2014
- Messages
- 29
- Reaction score
- 23
I’m from Kingswood so this case has always held my interest, especially as the perpetrator was never caught
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2017
- Messages
- 117
- Reaction score
- 256
I wonder what happened in 1998 that made the offender seemingly stop. Did the offender emigrate? Was the offender incarcerated - I suspect DNA would have been taken if so, as DNA testing was done then but was not as advanced as it is today.2000
''As far as the police can tell, the rapist first struck on May 21 1991, when a 36-year-old woman was abducted at knifepoint as she tried to park her car in Coronation Avenue, Bath.
Police link 11 attacks to serial rapist
Detectives hunting a serial rapist who has struck at least 11 times over the past nine years yesterday linked the knifepoint attacks for the first time.www.theguardian.com
She was forced to drive to a quiet lane where she was attacked. Five months later an 18-year-old was grabbed by a man as she walked up Bathwick Hill in Bath. She was marched to a field where she was subjected to a serious sexual assault.
There was a three-year gap before the next attack, and then a further two years of apparent inactivity.
Three women were attacked in 1996 and three more in 1997. The last assault was on Tuesday January 26 1999.
On that occasion a man attempted to abduct a 39-year-old woman in Forrester Lane, Bathwick, Bath, but was scared off when she screamed for help.
As he ran away he dropped a faded grey baseball cap with a green "Batman Forever" logo embossed on the front.
Within 10 minutes he had abducted another woman in a nearby road. He forced her to drive to the village of Monkton Combe just off the A36 where he assaulted her.
Only one of the attacks happened outside Bath - a 19-year-old woman was abducted from Kingswood, Bristol, and raped in September 1996.''
This begs another question. Could the attacker be a seemingly respectable person, perhaps in a well respected profession, who keeps themselves out of the attention of the police by not stealing, doing drugs or other things that would be likely to get them arrested?
His last known attack was in 2000. In January 2001, the police started mass DNA testing 2000 POIs. Maybe this was enough to scare him off offending again.
He might also have hit middle age and no longer felt confident of outrunning police or controlling victims. If he carried on offending then perhaps he committed additional attacks which weren't ever reported. A lot of his 1990s attacks weren't reported until years later, so he probably has more victims who have never come forward.
I wouldn't be surprised if he started offending before his first known rape in 1991. It seems a very ambitious attack for a first time offender IMO.
He might also have hit middle age and no longer felt confident of outrunning police or controlling victims. If he carried on offending then perhaps he committed additional attacks which weren't ever reported. A lot of his 1990s attacks weren't reported until years later, so he probably has more victims who have never come forward.
I wouldn't be surprised if he started offending before his first known rape in 1991. It seems a very ambitious attack for a first time offender IMO.
JMO but I doubt he worked in a well respected profession. You never know though.
The police thought he was blue collar, rather than white collar. They thought he was smart enough to be evidence aware, but not of high intelligence.
The police thought he was blue collar, rather than white collar. They thought he was smart enough to be evidence aware, but not of high intelligence.
Back in 2000 police said they’d drawn up a profile of him:
www.gazetteandherald.co.uk
The above article quotes a DI James as saying the rapist sometimes carries a condom and always has a knife. If he wore a condom he must’ve been fairly forensically aware? I wonder how the DNA profile was obtained? Perhaps from the hat?
It’s difficult to profile these guys, imo. Adrian Warburton was mid-30s when he carried out a string of sex attacks in Bath between 2004 and 2005. He was an ‘educated’ firefighter from Trowbridge, about ten miles from Bath. Before he was caught police believed they were looking for a guy in his 20s. Had he offended before? If not then what triggered him?
Rapist hunt stepped up
Police have made a new plea to track down Bath's Batman serial rapist who has terrorised women for the past decade.
The above article quotes a DI James as saying the rapist sometimes carries a condom and always has a knife. If he wore a condom he must’ve been fairly forensically aware? I wonder how the DNA profile was obtained? Perhaps from the hat?
It’s difficult to profile these guys, imo. Adrian Warburton was mid-30s when he carried out a string of sex attacks in Bath between 2004 and 2005. He was an ‘educated’ firefighter from Trowbridge, about ten miles from Bath. Before he was caught police believed they were looking for a guy in his 20s. Had he offended before? If not then what triggered him?
Btw, completely agree with the posts made by @RosalindaA on pages 1 and 2 re genetic genealogy. Back in 2007 Geoffrey Godfrey was caught for a 1993 rape in Bridgwater (about 40 miles from Bath) after a relative of his provided a DNA sample in an unrelated case. A family tree was drawn up and samples were taken until police landed on Godfrey.
www.mirror.co.uk
Shortly after his conviction the Wall Street Journal discussed how the US was “considering following Britain's lead” regarding familial searching.
It’s sad how quickly we’ve been left behind. @RosalindaA mentioned Janet Brown, and we’re coming up to the anniversary of Julie Pacey’s murder too - police have DNA profiles of their respective killers, yet they’ve pretty clearly hit a dead end using the tried and tested methods. At some point they surely have to go down the genetic genealogy road?
Relative's DNA trail to rapist
A masked rapist was caught 14 years after he struck when a distant relative's DNA helped track him down.
www.mirror.co.uk
Shortly after his conviction the Wall Street Journal discussed how the US was “considering following Britain's lead” regarding familial searching.
It’s sad how quickly we’ve been left behind. @RosalindaA mentioned Janet Brown, and we’re coming up to the anniversary of Julie Pacey’s murder too - police have DNA profiles of their respective killers, yet they’ve pretty clearly hit a dead end using the tried and tested methods. At some point they surely have to go down the genetic genealogy road?
Warburton must have had very good lawyers. Nine years is a ridiculously short sentence for such a dangerous and prolific offender.
Most serious sex offenders start with non contact crimes like indecent exposure, peeping, following women, hot prowling etc.
Apparently AW liked following women and trying to take photographs of them. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a long history as a peeping Tom. I doubt very much if he just woke up one day and decided to get a balaclava and become a commuter rapist.
Most serious sex offenders start with non contact crimes like indecent exposure, peeping, following women, hot prowling etc.
Apparently AW liked following women and trying to take photographs of them. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a long history as a peeping Tom. I doubt very much if he just woke up one day and decided to get a balaclava and become a commuter rapist.
SteveH
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2025
- Messages
- 58
- Reaction score
- 245
In the 1995 Crimewatch reconstruction of the November 14 1994 attack - before the police realised they had a serial rapist on their hands - the assailant was described as definitely having a local accent.
- from 18 mins 28 secs.
Difficult to understand why this bloke was never caught. The detective on the show felt "very positive" that they would get their man. Other witnesses had seen him.
Concerning the two November 1994 attacks, from The News of the World Feb 14 1999:
"COPS ARE TAUNTED BY FIEND WHO HAS POUNCED 11 TIMES
A SICK rapist dubbed The Riddler is playing an evil game of 'catch me if you can' with police.
The beast-who brutally binds, gags and kidnaps his victims-has struck at least ELEVEN TIMES .
And he may have KILLED one of his targets-blonde hospital worker Melanie Hall, 25.
After the fiend's last blood-chilling attack, he deliberately left behind a hardly-worn baseball cap bearing a Batman symbol in a question mark.
The sign stands for one of the caped crusader's most notorious foes, The Riddler, who taunts cops by leaving cryptic clues at crime scenes.
Detectives are convinced the real-life monster will strike again-and they may call in a Cracker-style psychologist to unravel the mysteries of his twisted mind.
A police source said: "Leaving that cap was his biggest mistake. If he thinks he can play games with us and get away with it, he's mistaken."
The rapist has preyed on terrified women-mainly in the Bath area-for more than four years.
And police think he may have been a soldier because of the precision with which he plans his attacks.
He may even have timed his last attack to coincide with the 150th edition of TV's Crimewatch show.
VICTIM No 1 was pretty blonde sales assistant Zoe Roberts, 23.
She was stalked through the streets of Bath in November 1994 by a "weird-looking" man.
Zoe was walking back to her car parked in the Bathwick district when she spotted the pervert behind her.
She managed to leap in front of a lorry, slip into her car and speed off.
She said: "He was medium build and had dark hair. He was scruffy and somehow didn't look normal. When I got into my car, he turned away so I couldn't see his face. I felt I'd been very lucky. If it hadn't been for that lorry..."
VICTIM No 2 was not so lucky. Only a few days after Zoe's escape, the 27-year-old professional woman was approached by a man as she parked her Ford Fiesta XR2 outside her Bathwick home after work. The man sprinted towards the woman-married with no children-and threatened her with an 8in knife.
He ordered her to get back in the Fiesta and took her five miles to a road near Bath University.
Then he screeched to a halt in a secluded layby, blindfolded her with a black cloth, tied her up and drove off again to a lonely wood.
The knifeman dragged his trembling victim from the car, frog-marched her into a copse and indecently assaulted her.
He then raped her at knifepoint. After the horrifying attack, the fiend hauled the distraught woman to her car and yanked a plastic bag over her head before driving her home and fleeing on foot.
The man was described as about 30, and 5ft 7 tall with a medium build and dark hair. He was wearing a woolly hat and a dark jumper. Police think he lives locally because he had "extensive" knowledge of lanes near the university.
They believe he deliberately chose to pounce near the woman's home because she would feel safe and be off her guard.
Detectives reckon he may have stalked her for days before attacking....
Inspector Ian Appleton, leading the hunt for The Riddler, said: "He's brazen and may have a military background. He does his homework and goes prepared with materials."
Top criminal psychologist Tony Black says The Riddler is almost certainly a lonely loser.
The retired head of psychology at Broadmoor high-security hospital said: "The fact he lets his victims have their cars back, rather than smashing them up, suggests he falls into the lonely category.
"He probably lacks skills in initiating and maintaining relationships. So he ends up accosting someone and forcing them to do what he wants.
"He's looking for revenge against womankind in general, possibly because of the actions of an individual such as his mother or sister.
"He's an unhappy person unable to form relationships."
But as far as the police and public are concerned, The Riddler is a cold-blooded rapist who MUST be hunted down before he wrecks the lives of any more innocent women."
I have seen it speculated that the Batman rapist was an RAF pilot based at RAF Lyneham. But from the descriptions of his appearance, manner and voice ("scruffy", "weird") it seems that he was most likely to have been a working class resident or ex-resident of Bath. Maybe also a burglar and/or bouncer. I doubt very much a "diplomat's son" would have had had a strong local accent.
Perhaps the cops should have taken the approach the police did in Bristol in the late '70s when they trapped the Clifton rapist, Ron Evans. Female officers were used as decoys and some of the younger male officers went around in drag. He was caught when he tried to grab a female officer. This video is a bit repetitive but does give a good idea of the police approach:
Difficult to understand why this bloke was never caught. The detective on the show felt "very positive" that they would get their man. Other witnesses had seen him.
Concerning the two November 1994 attacks, from The News of the World Feb 14 1999:
"COPS ARE TAUNTED BY FIEND WHO HAS POUNCED 11 TIMES
A SICK rapist dubbed The Riddler is playing an evil game of 'catch me if you can' with police.
The beast-who brutally binds, gags and kidnaps his victims-has struck at least ELEVEN TIMES .
And he may have KILLED one of his targets-blonde hospital worker Melanie Hall, 25.
After the fiend's last blood-chilling attack, he deliberately left behind a hardly-worn baseball cap bearing a Batman symbol in a question mark.
The sign stands for one of the caped crusader's most notorious foes, The Riddler, who taunts cops by leaving cryptic clues at crime scenes.
Detectives are convinced the real-life monster will strike again-and they may call in a Cracker-style psychologist to unravel the mysteries of his twisted mind.
A police source said: "Leaving that cap was his biggest mistake. If he thinks he can play games with us and get away with it, he's mistaken."
The rapist has preyed on terrified women-mainly in the Bath area-for more than four years.
And police think he may have been a soldier because of the precision with which he plans his attacks.
He may even have timed his last attack to coincide with the 150th edition of TV's Crimewatch show.
VICTIM No 1 was pretty blonde sales assistant Zoe Roberts, 23.
She was stalked through the streets of Bath in November 1994 by a "weird-looking" man.
Zoe was walking back to her car parked in the Bathwick district when she spotted the pervert behind her.
She managed to leap in front of a lorry, slip into her car and speed off.
She said: "He was medium build and had dark hair. He was scruffy and somehow didn't look normal. When I got into my car, he turned away so I couldn't see his face. I felt I'd been very lucky. If it hadn't been for that lorry..."
VICTIM No 2 was not so lucky. Only a few days after Zoe's escape, the 27-year-old professional woman was approached by a man as she parked her Ford Fiesta XR2 outside her Bathwick home after work. The man sprinted towards the woman-married with no children-and threatened her with an 8in knife.
He ordered her to get back in the Fiesta and took her five miles to a road near Bath University.
Then he screeched to a halt in a secluded layby, blindfolded her with a black cloth, tied her up and drove off again to a lonely wood.
The knifeman dragged his trembling victim from the car, frog-marched her into a copse and indecently assaulted her.
He then raped her at knifepoint. After the horrifying attack, the fiend hauled the distraught woman to her car and yanked a plastic bag over her head before driving her home and fleeing on foot.
The man was described as about 30, and 5ft 7 tall with a medium build and dark hair. He was wearing a woolly hat and a dark jumper. Police think he lives locally because he had "extensive" knowledge of lanes near the university.
They believe he deliberately chose to pounce near the woman's home because she would feel safe and be off her guard.
Detectives reckon he may have stalked her for days before attacking....
Inspector Ian Appleton, leading the hunt for The Riddler, said: "He's brazen and may have a military background. He does his homework and goes prepared with materials."
Top criminal psychologist Tony Black says The Riddler is almost certainly a lonely loser.
The retired head of psychology at Broadmoor high-security hospital said: "The fact he lets his victims have their cars back, rather than smashing them up, suggests he falls into the lonely category.
"He probably lacks skills in initiating and maintaining relationships. So he ends up accosting someone and forcing them to do what he wants.
"He's looking for revenge against womankind in general, possibly because of the actions of an individual such as his mother or sister.
"He's an unhappy person unable to form relationships."
But as far as the police and public are concerned, The Riddler is a cold-blooded rapist who MUST be hunted down before he wrecks the lives of any more innocent women."
I have seen it speculated that the Batman rapist was an RAF pilot based at RAF Lyneham. But from the descriptions of his appearance, manner and voice ("scruffy", "weird") it seems that he was most likely to have been a working class resident or ex-resident of Bath. Maybe also a burglar and/or bouncer. I doubt very much a "diplomat's son" would have had had a strong local accent.
Perhaps the cops should have taken the approach the police did in Bristol in the late '70s when they trapped the Clifton rapist, Ron Evans. Female officers were used as decoys and some of the younger male officers went around in drag. He was caught when he tried to grab a female officer. This video is a bit repetitive but does give a good idea of the police approach:
Late 1994 seems to be the one period when he doesn't care if his face is seen. A lot of witnesses spot him prowling. I wonder what was going on in his life for him to be much less careful than usual.
One of the 1994 witnesses thought it was Christopher Hampton who she had seen, but Hampton was 42 years old, which doesn't really fit the other descriptions of the man being around 28-32 years old.
The police didn't really have much opportunity to set up a stakeout, like with Ronald Evans, Adrian Warburton etc, because the Batman rapist knew he couldn't keep attacking in the same areas without long gaps. Warburton attacked five times in the same small area within about 9 months. With the Batman it was closer to five times in 9 years.
Late 1994 was the one time he got sloppy, but as has been mentioned, the police hadn't really linked the early attacks at this stage.
One of the 1994 witnesses thought it was Christopher Hampton who she had seen, but Hampton was 42 years old, which doesn't really fit the other descriptions of the man being around 28-32 years old.
The police didn't really have much opportunity to set up a stakeout, like with Ronald Evans, Adrian Warburton etc, because the Batman rapist knew he couldn't keep attacking in the same areas without long gaps. Warburton attacked five times in the same small area within about 9 months. With the Batman it was closer to five times in 9 years.
Late 1994 was the one time he got sloppy, but as has been mentioned, the police hadn't really linked the early attacks at this stage.
The hat wasn’t left behind to taunt police though, was it?
www.theguardian.com
You can go down all sorts of rabbit holes with this case. Probably the most far fetched theory I think I’ve seen is that the attacks stopped because the rapist moved to the US where he became the Kansas college rapist. One that’s more believable is that perhaps the Batman cap wearing attacker wasn’t the rapist, but a mugger or carjacker who just happened to strike minutes before the rapist did.
www.gazetteandherald.co.uk
Would a serial rapist really be getting friends and/or family to ask around for a missing cap? Or perhaps someone else lost a Batman cap around the same time and it’s just coincidental.
Something must not be right with this case and what we know about it, imo, because it seems so solvable, yet here we are.
Edit: sp
Police link 11 attacks to serial rapist
Detectives hunting a serial rapist who has struck at least 11 times over the past nine years yesterday linked the knifepoint attacks for the first time.
You can go down all sorts of rabbit holes with this case. Probably the most far fetched theory I think I’ve seen is that the attacks stopped because the rapist moved to the US where he became the Kansas college rapist. One that’s more believable is that perhaps the Batman cap wearing attacker wasn’t the rapist, but a mugger or carjacker who just happened to strike minutes before the rapist did.
Rapist still a danger
WOMEN have been warned to be vigilant while they are in their cars, as police admit they are no closer to catching Bath's Batman rapist.
Would a serial rapist really be getting friends and/or family to ask around for a missing cap? Or perhaps someone else lost a Batman cap around the same time and it’s just coincidental.
Something must not be right with this case and what we know about it, imo, because it seems so solvable, yet here we are.
Edit: sp
Last edited:
I would take the News of the World article with a large pinch of salt. I doubt very much if the cap was dropped as any sort of taunt.
The cap dropper was described as around 24 years old. The police don't really seem to go with this description/composite, as it would mean the Batman was only 16 in 1991. The police seem to think he was at least in his 20s in 1991.
The cap dropper was described as around 24 years old. The police don't really seem to go with this description/composite, as it would mean the Batman was only 16 in 1991. The police seem to think he was at least in his 20s in 1991.
And - assuming cap man is the rapist - would he have been going around wearing a Batman cap in 1999, aged 47?
Last edited:
Staff online
-
FraizeAdministrator
Online statistics
- Members online
- 114
- Guests online
- 2,521
- Total visitors
- 2,635