Night Stalker

On Sunday the 15 November 2009, detectives hunting one of the most prolific sex offenders in Britain finally made an arrest, 17 years after the first terrifying attack took place. The ‘Night Stalker' first struck in 1992, raping an 84-year- old woman in her flat in Croydon. What followed was a sickening series of horrifying sexual assaults on elderly victims across south London, Kent and Surrey. All the victims lived alone and were woken in the night by a man dressed in black, his face obscured by a balaclava. He would shine a torch into their eyes, or switch off their electricity, before subjecting them to terrifyingly violent attacks. DNA profiling revealed a list of 21,000 possible suspects before officers working on Operation Minstead finally pieced together enough evidence to make an arrest. This is the full story of the man dubbed the Night Stalker, who brought terror and violence to the streets of South London.

John McShane worked as a reporter in Fleet Street covering conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Ireland before becoming associate editor of The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror. His is the author of the highly-acclaimed biography of Arsenal favourite Perry Groves—We All Live in a Perry Groves World. He is married with three children and has homes in London and Spain.