CALLS have been made for more CCTV to be installed in a car park where a woman was sexually assaulted.

At pervert Dean Clark’s trial last month it emerged that there were no cameras on the upper levels of the Brunel West multi-storey at the time of the sex attack in 2018.

Two years on, there are still none covering the upper floors.

Calls

The county’s police and crime commissioner has joined councillors in calling for more cameras to keep people safe.

Angus Macpherson, police and crime commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, told the Adver: “CCTV plays an important role in helping to keep people safe and I would support calls for Swindon Borough Council to install more cameras where needed.

“Car parks can be dangerous places, especially in the dark winter months, and with an increase in the concern around mental health too, upper stories should be covered as much as lower and ground floors.”

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Brunel West car park Picture: DAVE COX

Coun Janine Howarth, Labour group spokesman on crime, added: “Because of the cutbacks to the police – although it’s not an excuse – we want to make people feel as safe as they can possibly feel and CCTV is one of the ways that can happen.

“We are completely in favour of installing CCTV where it is necessary in order to make people feel safe.”

Sex attacker

Last week, 34-year-old Dean Clark was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after being found guilty in August of sexual assault by penetration.

The Swindon Crown Court jury heard prosecutors allege David Murray John Tower resident Clark had most likely spotted his victim, a woman in her 20s, alone on the top of the Brunel West car park. There was a pair of binoculars in his high-rise flat and he had previously called police about suspicious incidents unfolding on the car park’s flat roof.

CCTV showed the attacker make his way from the DMJ after 8pm on July 3, 2018, walking purposefully down Canal Walk and through the car park underpass towards Farnsby Street then into stairwell.

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A CCTV camera inside the Brunel West multi-storey

That, however, was where the footage stopped. Clark was clocked on another car park camera at the foot of a different stairwell around 18 minutes later, following his victim out of the multi-storey.

In the intervening period, prosecutors said Clark had repeatedly molested the woman. Clark denied the claims, saying he had spotted a friend known to him only as Martin, gone to the upper storey of the car park with him then been accosted by the woman as he tried to leave. Martin had not been captured on CCTV, a fact Clark batted away as the car park was not fully covered by cameras.

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Dean Clark's police custody image Picture: WILTSHIRE POLICE

Jurors were told by prosecutor Nicholas Tucker that there was CCTV only on the ground floor entrances to the stairwells. Checks by the Adver found this was still the case – more than two years later.

CCTV coverage in the John Street car park was similarly poor. The Brunel North car park had better camera coverage, although cameras were not placed on every level in the stairwells as was the case in the Whalebridge and Fleming Way car parks.

Council responds

Swindon Borough Council hasn’t ruled out installing additional cameras.

Maureen Penny, cabinet member for highways, said: “I am a big fan of CCTV and I would like to use more cameras as it is an effective deterrent against crime and it generally makes people feel safer.

“We have recently installed LED lighting in our car parks to make them safer, but I will be talking to my officers about whether we can install cameras on the upper levels of the car parks to add an extra level of security.

“However, we will need to ensure we have the necessary budget in place to cover the cost of the cameras, the installation and the ongoing cost of monitoring them.”