A MAN has been arrested after a woman was raped in toilets at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.

Police were called to the hospital in Headley Way, Headington, at about 9pm on Saturday, after a 22-year-old woman said she had been attacked.

Officers said they identified a suspect, traced him to Southampton and arrested the 43-year-old on suspicion of rape shortly before 11am yesterday.

Last night the man was on his way back to Oxford to be questioned by police about the incident.

Detective Inspector Simon Morton, based at St Aldate’s Police Station in Oxford, appealed for anyone else with information about the incident to come forward.

He said: “After reviewing CCTV and talking to witnesses we have made an arrest. I would like to reassure the public that this is a very rare occurrence.

“We have identified who we believe to be the offender very quickly.”

Officers cordoned off the toilets in the hospital’s West Wing on Sunday night to comb the scene for evidence.

They also spoke to witnesses in the hospital at the time and watched hospital CCTV footage.

Police would not reveal which part of the hospital the attack took place in, or if the victim or suspect were patients or visitors.

Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, which includes the John Radcliffe hospital, would not be drawn on the incident yesterday.

Trust spokesman Heather Barnett said: “The trust is assisting the police in their investigation.”

It is the second rape by a stranger in Oxford reported to police in a week.

Last weekend, a 19-year-old woman woke up in a car to find she was being raped after a night out at the Bridge nightclub in Hythe Bridge Street.

Police said she remembered opening the door and being sick, but had no idea where she was between 3-5am on Sunday, October 24.

No arrests have been made.

  • Anyone with information about either incident should call Det Insp Simon Morton on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.