Cambridge rapist case: ‘It was a frightening time to be a woman’

Young women were living in numerous residences around Cambridge in the 1970s – as in any town or city – and the first reported attack did not grab the headlines.

A 20-year-old secretary was in a shared house on 18 October 1974. She was alone and had just taken a bath when the lights went out.

She was raped by an intruder – and this set a pattern that would soon lead police to believe a serial rapist was at large.

Student Paul Bahn began following the reports in the local paper and later went on to write a book about the events.

“It was a frightening time to be a woman in Cambridge – my girlfriend was terrified,” says Dr Bahn, who was a 21-year-old PhD student in 1974.

“The second attack made some people sit up and take notice. By the third attack, it was clear there was a pattern.”

Gradually, reports gave more details of the suspect.

He was said to be in his mid-20s and of short stature, according to his victims.

“Young women in Cambridge were the most worried – and then it was the shorter men,” says Dr Bahn.

“Everyone was looking at them in the street, so it was also not a good time to be a short man.

“And in the city, sales of locks and alarms and pepper spray were sky-high.”