Joseph McCann, 34, allegedly attacked the teenagers in Congleton, Cheshire
This dramatic dash cam footage shows the moment police chased ‘serial rapist’ Joseph McCann after he allegedly abducted two 14-year-old girls at the end of a day of depravity where he assaulted seven victims, a court has heard.
The two teenage girls were forced into a Fiat Punto McCann had taken from a 71-year-old woman earlier in the day and screamed in terror as their abductor was chased by the police.
In the early hours of May 5, he had tied up a mother and then tried to force her children aged 11 and 17 to have sex with each other, the Old Bailey has heard.
Later that day he pounced on the 71-year-old as she loaded her shopping into her car in Bury and raped her in her black Fiat Punto before forcing a 13-year old into the car with them, jurors have heard.
They escaped at Knutsford Services on the M6 and McCann drove off, spotting the two 14-year-olds in Congleton, Cheshire 30 minutes later.
The girls froze as McCann threatened to stab them with a machete if they did not do what he said.
An interview of the teenage victims, recorded at Congleton Police Station, was played to the jury today.
One said: ‘The man pulled up in his car in front of us and got out the driver’s door and got out onto the street speaking to us.
Footage shows suspected serial rapist Joseph McCann stroll into a petrol station in Watford while another alleged victim sits in his car
A CCTV image issued by the Metropolitan Police of McCann using a drive-thru at a McDonalds on April 25, whilst one of his alleged victims was in his car
‘The first thing he said was: ”I have been looking for you all day,” which was a bit of a shock because we did not live in Congleton. He said we had been bullying his sister all day.
‘The man said: ”You will have no glasses on your face and no teeth, I will chop you up,”.
‘He told us to get into the back of the car or he would kill us basically.’
Asked by officers what they thought of McCann, one of the 14-year-olds said: ‘He was not who he was making out to be basically.
‘He was not taking us to see his sister and he was involved in something. He was repeatedly telling us to be quiet and shut up.’
At 6.44pm McCann pulled up at the Clayton Bypass, near Congleton to refuel the Punto. The girls explained how he gave them £20 and told them to pay.
McCann is accused of 37 charges including the rape of a child under 13, kidnap, and sexual assault concerning 11 alleged victims
When they told him they did not know how to pay for petrol, he left them in the car, asking them to find his phone battery and mind his cigarettes.
At the same time, police officers from the Cheshire and Manchester area were looking for McCann and the Fiat Punto.
PC Michael Jennings saw the car at a roundabout on the Clayton Bypass and pursued the vehicle until it crashed into a Mercedes.
In her evidence the same 14-year-old said: ‘You could see the blue lights in the mirror. He collided with the car and we screamed. He told us to shut up.’
After the crash McCann got out of the car and ran off, jurors heard.
‘He climbed over someone’s garden fence. He went through their back garden. Everyone was asking where he went and pointed to his direction but by then he had gone,’ the teenager continued.
‘There were quite a lot of people there. There were residents of the houses and there were a few girls that we knew.’
Her friend who was in the car at the same time told how she tried to break out of the vehicle but he had put the child locks on the back doors.
McCann denies 37 charges including the rape of a child under 13, kidnap, and sexual assault concerning 11 alleged victims.
PC Michael Jennings saw the black Fiat car at a roundabout on the Clayton Bypass
The police officers pursued the vehicle that was allegedly stolen from a 71-year-old earlier in the day
The vehicle then crashed into a Mercedes but continued on going. The police car pursued with sirens blaring but appeared to lose the Fiat on a housing estate
Dramatic dash cam footage has been aired in court of police chasing suspected serial rapist Joseph McCann after he had allegedly abducted two 14-year-old girls.
The 34-year-old had allegedly stolen a Fiat car belonging to a 71-year-old victim and used it to snatch the girls in Greater Manchester on May 5.
Jurors heard how McCann threatened to ‘chop them up’ with a machete if they did not get into his car.
McCann was then caught on CCTV buying petrol and a pack of Durex condoms at a Shell garage while the ‘terrified’ girls waited in the car.
A petrol attendant who served him, said in a statement: ‘He seemed angry, nervous and in a rush.’
Soon after, McCann was spotted by a police patrol on the look out for a Fiat involved in a reported car-jacking.
Pc Michael Jennings saw two girls in the back and said one appeared ‘terrified’ while the other raised a hand to attract attention, the Old Bailey heard.
When the officer gave chase, the Fiat went the wrong way on a roundabout and collided with a bronze Mercedes, the court heard.
Despite heavy damaged to the car, it carried on, reaching speeds of up to 60mph in the 40mph zone, jurors heard.
The police car pursued with sirens blaring but appeared to lose the Fiat on a housing estate.
A CCTV image issued by the police of McCann at the Phoenix Lodge Hotel in Watford on the afternoon of April 25, as he left two different alleged victims, in his car outside
Officers were heard in dash cam footage calling out to members of the public in the street: ‘Which way, which way has he gone?’
McCann then abandoned the car, leaving the two girls by the road, the court heard.
He was next picked up on CCTV running past a man cleaning a driveway and dashing through his garden.
McCann was later seen riding a bicycle, having swapped his white T-shirt for a red top and matching bandana.
The defendant then got a taxi from a restaurant in Stoke which was stopped by police.
At 8.40pm, McCann was seen running through a field, having fled from the taxi when challenged by an officer. He climbed up a tree before he was finally arrested, the court has heard.
Jurors were shown footage of McCann clambering over fences in women’s clothing in his bid to escape police as they closed in on him.
Christopher Moss, from Congleton, told police: ‘I was sitting in my lounge watching TV. I saw a black car come into the close at sped and has passed left to right by the window.
‘I could hear the vehicle approaching due to the highly revved engine noises. I could also hear police sirens. I then got up and walked to the window looking out I could my son on our driveway and then I saw two girl get out of the passenger side of the vehicle.
‘They looked to be absolutely terrified. They were paled faced and white and they just had a scared look on their faces. I was aware of the girl’s speaking between themselves, but I did not know what they said to each other. The girl’s then ran out of the close passing right to left by the window.’
McCann was caught on CCTV trying to evade police according to prosecutors after he crashed the black Fiat Punto he was driving.
Another local resident Elizabeth Ellingham told officers two of her red t-shirts went missing.
The teenage girls allegedly kidnapped by McCann told police he was wearing a white Nike shirt with dark trousers.
But when he was picked up on camera he was caught in a red top.
Ms Ellingham said in a statement: ‘I saw that my two red shirts were no longer on the washing line. I thought my husband brought them in, but he told me he had no knowledge of it.’
The t-shirts were found ripped by a car a few streets away and returned to Ms Ellingham. She told officers: ‘My husband brought them back and I confirmed they were mine.’
McCann can be seen on the footage running past shocked neighbours, telling one to ‘Shut the f*** up’, as he power-washed his driveway before clambering over his wooden garden fence.
He was the captured riding a child’s bicycle in Ms Ellingham’s clothes hearing towards Lime Street, in Congleton.
The offences are said to have occurred across five police force areas over a two-week period between 20 April and 5 May.
McCann, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, denies seven counts of rape, one count of rape of a child under 13, seven counts of kidnap, one attempted kidnap, 10 counts of false imprisonment, three counts of assault by penetration, three counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, one count of sexual assault and two of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without their consent.
The trial continues.
