POLICE IN ENGLAND are hunting for two men in connection with the rape of a 14-year-old boy in a department store in Manchester city centre.
Officers investigating the case this afternoon released CCTV images of the two men wanted in connection with the assault.
The attack happened on a Saturday afternoon at the start of June but police have been waiting for forensic results and working with the victim before deciding to issue an appeal for help from the public.
The teenager had been approached by two men when he went to the toilets in the Arndale shopping centre in the city centre.
One of the men grabbed him by the arm and told him, “Come with us, do what we say, and if you try to run we’ll get you”. They led him to a nearby Debenhams department store where he was brought to a toilet and raped by one of the men.
The victim contacted the police after the attack.
“This young victim has been absolutely devastated by what happened to him,” said Detective Sergeant Liam Boden of North Manchester Criminal Investigation Department.
As a result we have ensured that he has been supported by officers who are trained in dealing with victims under this type of terrible circumstances.
What makes this incident doubly shocking is that he was marched across a busy part of the city centre during the late afternoon on [a] Saturday.
Police have called on the public to help identify the two men.
Arndale Shopping Centre in Manchester (Photo: Dave Thompson/PA Wire)
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