Detective Mom Tracks Down Her Rapist - via Facebook

A mother who was almost raped on the way home from a pub turned detective to track down the alleged sex attacker by finding him on Facebook using his unusual name.

Alpha Gray has pleaded not guilty to attempted rape, sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm in the trial at the Old Bailey.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, picked him out of an identification parade after finding his Facebook profile and reporting him to police.

She told the court she was left with bruises and a bleeding ear after a man tried to rape her shortly after she left a pub in Tufnell Park, north London, in May.

However, the attacker had told her his name was Alpha, that he was 30, and he lived in Holloway, north London, which was all the information she needed to find his profile on the social networking site.

She told the court: 'It's such an unusual name. I didn't think it was his real name. His picture came up and it turned out he knew someone I knew. There was a picture of him on a beach holding a little girl. When the police phoned me, I said from that picture I would not tell if it was him. I was not 100 per cent sure."

But at the identity parade, she picked out Gray, confirming he was the last person she saw.

'When I saw him it drew my breath away,' she said.

Gopal Hooper, prosecuting, told the court that on leaving the pub the woman, who is in her twenties, was approached by a man who pulled down her top and punched her in the face after she tried to run off.

Mr Hooper said: 'Somebody who said his name was Alpha, who was aged 30, who lived in Holloway, attacked this young woman. His defence is his name is Alpha, he is 30, he lives in Holloway and happened to be in the area at the time. He said his name was Alpha. It is a very unusual name, not like Smith or Jones.'

Gray allegedly later told police he was at a friend's birthday party at a club a few minutes away from the pub where the woman had been with friends.

Police discovered his address and he was arrested two days after the attack.

The case continues.

original article here