Police searching for suspected rapist and abductor make arrest

Fugitive Joseph McCann, who is wanted in connection with a number of rapes and abductions of women, is believed to have been taken into custody, according to Sky sources.

Cheshire police, who were looking for McCann after two women were kidnapped, say they have “located a man in connection with the incident”.

The police deployed trained negotiators to talk to the man in a rural area of Congleton.

Police have not confirmed the man is McCann.

Sky News correspondent Tom Parmenter was at the scene of the late-night capture.

He said: “After nine hours pursuing their suspect the police tracked him to some open fields just on the northern edge of this market town.

“At one stage the man had climbed a tree to try and evade capture but trained negotiators managed to resolve the standoff.

“Ambulance teams and fire crews were also assisting the operation to ensure the safety of both the suspect and their colleagues from the emergency services.”

He added: “Shortly before 3am the teams emerged from the darkness walking along a footpath towards us and their suspect was driven away in the back of a police vehicle – his face hidden from view.

“A Cheshire police officer confirmed to us that he would be taken into custody for questioning.”

McCann is suspected of being connected to the abduction of two women on Sunday in Cheshire.

The women were forced into a black Fiat Punto in Congleton town centre, Cheshire, at around 6.45pm.

The suspect, realising he had been spotted, hit a car as he attempted to flee. Running away on foot, the women were left in the car. They are unhurt but “extremely shaken”.

Police have been checking roads in and out of Congleton and boosted numbers of officers on the streets.

The 34-year-old was already being hunted by the Met Police in connection with the abduction and rapes of three women in London.

McCann is suspected to have abducted two women in their 20s off the streets in north London on Thursday, 25 April, in separate incidents.

The first woman was abducted from a street in Chingford in the early hours, while the second victim was taken from Edgware just 12 hours later at just after midday.

At around 2.30pm, they managed to escape during a struggle with the suspect at Osborne Road in Watford.

A third attack on a 21-year-old woman in the town, in the early hours of Sunday, 21 April, is being jointly investigated by the Metropolitan and Hertfordshire police.

Police believe the women were targeted at random.

More follows…

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