Detective pays tribute to 'incredible' bravery of victim after sex attacker tried to rape teen in Jarrow park

A Northumbria Police detective has described a victim’s bravery as ‘nothing short of incredible’ after a sex attacker followed her from a train and tried to rape her in a park.
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The 38-year-old preyed on his victim near to West Park in Jarrow before attacking the female, who was 16 at the time, and attempted to rape her before leaving the area. The distressed victim ran to safety and flagged down nearby residents telling them what had happened, as they immediately called police.

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Officers attended to offer specialist support to the victim and an investigation was launched by Northumbria Police's Safeguarding Department, where detectives carried out extensive enquiries trawling hours of CCTV and worked with Forensic Services Department to gather crucial evidence. After three days Nixon was arrested.

Steven Nixon.Steven Nixon.
Steven Nixon.

Detective Sergeant Kimberley Wright, of Northumbria Police’s Safeguarding Department has thanked the victim for her courage.

She said: “The bravery the victim has shown throughout the investigation and court proceedings – and continues to display to this day – has been nothing short of incredible. The hard work and dedication of all the officers and police staff involved in this case meant that a thorough file was presented before the CPS, which left Nixon little choice but to admit his guilt. Nixon left a trail of evidence, meaning that detectives were quickly able to catch up with him and irrefutably place him at the scene of the crime.

“And after being convicted, Nixon has now been put behind bars for a considerable amount of time where he can’t hurt anyone else. While his disgusting actions will stay with the victim, now 17, both mentally and physically for a long time, I hope that this result will offer some form of closure. Incidents of this nature are thankfully rare in our force area, however when such offences do occur, we are here to support victims and are committed to bringing effective justice against those responsible."