Second sex attack made on a newspaper girl

A newspaper delivery girl has been attacked 25 miles from where a 14-year-old papergirl was battered and raped. The 13-year-old victim was dragged into a garden in Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, and indecently assaulted by a man who sneaked up behind her. The incident came less than a week after the first girl was attacked in Lanchester, Co Durham.

Det Insp Trevor Ord, of Newcastle police, said: 'We can't rule out that it was a copycat attack. The circumstances are similar and we have been liaising with colleagues at Lanchester.'

The 13-year-old was assaulted on Christmas Eve, but was too frightened to report it until this week. The girl escaped injury, but was shocked by her ordeal. The assailant, in his mid-twenties, fled when he heard voices near by.