A man in his 30s was raped in the centre of Liverpool in the early hours of Saturday, BBC reported. Police cordoned off St John's Gardens following reports a man was attacked there by another man at 4.30 am. After the attack, the assailant also took a piece of jewellery the man was wearing at the time and fled towards Lime Street Station.
Soon after, emergency services attended the scene and the area was cordoned off to the public.
Chief Inspector Dave Currie from Merseyside Police said, ''We are in the very early stages of investigating this incident and officers remain in the area to carry out initial enquiries. I understand incidents of this nature will cause concern, but please be reassured that we take all reports of rape and sexual assault extremely seriously and we are determined to find the person responsible.''
''Our specialist Unity Team is committed to investigating any reports of a sexual offence and supporting victims through the whole investigative process so that we can prevent any further crimes of this awful nature from happening,'' he added.
He further described rape as an ''unimaginably awful crime that we hope no one has to go through'', but urged those who have experienced it or sexual assault to speak to police.
''We will listen carefully and do everything we can to bring such offenders to justice. Our specialist Unity Team is committed to investigating any reports of a sexual offence and supporting victims through the whole investigative process so that we can prevent any further crimes of this awful nature from happening.''
Meanwhile, police have appealed to the public for witnesses and information to find the culprit.
''If you have any information about this incident, or you were driving past the area at the time and have dashcam footage showing anything suspicious, please get in touch as a matter of urgency,'' police said.
