SURREY Police are pursuing some useful leads after an appeal was broadcast on BBC One's Crimewatch programme on Monday night for information following the rape on a teenage girl on the Ash and Aldershot border last May. Around 50 calls were received and the investigation team is now pursuing a number of lines of enquiry following a reconstruction of the crime. The 16- year-old victim and her mother spoke publicly for the first time about the harrowing incident and made an emotional plea for information. During the programme, a reward of £10,000 was also announced for any information leading to the successful conviction of the man responsible. The teenager was attacked as she walked on a footpath close to Ivy Fields recreation ground on the borders of Ash and Aldershot just after 4pm on May 21. She was grabbed from behind and dragged through undergrowth onto stinging nettles where the forceful attack took place. Afterwards the man became very remorseful for his actions and held his wrists together in an action believed to mimic handcuffs. An e-fit was shown on the programme of the man who is believed to be responsible as well as CCTV footage of a man sprinting towards the scene at around 3.45pm and then running back along Ivy Road and through the Focus DIY car park at about 4.20pm. Detective Inspector Fran Breslin, who is leading the investigation codenamed Operation Sage, said: "A substantial reward for information leading to conviction is now being offered and anyone with information, no matter how small, is urged to come forward." During the programme, the victim bravely spoke publicly for the first time about the impact the horrific 20-minute attack has had on her life. "I cannot walk anywhere on my own even if it's just to the shop around the corner, it still feels like I am being followed and someone is behind me. There are times when I feel he is still near me." She continued: "It just makes me feel physically sick to think about him, to think about what he has done and then just to think he may do it to someone else. Sorry is not good enough for what has happened." Appeals for information were made on a number of key points: Anyone in Ivy Road who saw the offender running to and from the scene. At 3.45pm he was running towards Ivy Fields and at 4.20pm he was seen running in the opposite direction down Ivy Road towards North Lane and running through the Focus car park. Where did he go when he left the Focus car park? Dog walkers, cyclists and people taking a shortcut between Ash and Aldershot between May 18 and May 21. Anyone in and around Redan Road Cemetary between 2pm and 3.30pm on May 21, including a man driving round in a silver car with a small child on his lap. The suspect is aged between 20-25 years and is believed to be a foreign national as he appeared to speak only a few words of English. He is around five feet six inches tall, of slim, skinny build, with short, dark fluffy hair, brown eyes, tanned appearance and long dirty fingernails. He had a gold hooped earring in his left ear and had a fresh cut to his right wrist. He was wearing dark clothing including a black round-necked t-shirt with short sleeves which was quite baggy and well worn with a white circular motif on the front and white writing which was peeling off. He also had an old indented scar which is fairly distinctive on his right cheek. This is around 1.5 inches long and is lighter in colour than his olive skin tone.
