Schoolgirl 'raped' at underpass as she walked at night: Police launch manhunt for attacker
A schoolgirl has reportedly been raped at an underpass after walking in the area at night.
The Metropolitan Police has launched a manhunt for the attacker after their officers assisted the victim, 15, at the scene in east London on Sunday night.
They were called to St Edmund's Way, Romford after reports of a rape and arrived there at 11.36pm.
The teenager is currently being treated by specialist officers and a crime scene remains in place.
A Met Police spokesperson said: 'We understand the concern this has caused in the community and people can expect to see an increased police presence in the area.
'No arrests have been made at this early stage. An investigation has been launched and anyone who has information that may assist police is asked to call 101 quoting CAD 8238/22June.'
Councillor David Taylor of Havering Council, meanwhile, said on Facebook: 'I am devastated by the news, which will leave many women feeling afraid to walk alone in our town and I pray for justice for the woman assaulted.'
No arrests have been made and police enquiries continue.
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Reflecting on his 18 great-grandchildren - and around the same number of grandchildren - Mr Herring added: 'There's a birthday every week! 'We've got feelings and we've got respect for ourselves and decency for other people. We have been like that all our lives. 'But people look down on us like we have just come from Mars. 'We are rough and ready, but any one of you can have bread and cheese with us - we are human. 'People who put their noses up at us, all I say is: come and find out who we are. We just try and keep ourselves to ourselves. 'They give us a bad name until they get to know us, then they realise we are not like they think we are. 'People are frightened by the myth. We've just got a bad name.' Despite settling down at the Kent site, Mr Herring - who has admitted never having been to school in his life - said the family will continue their Romany Gypsy traditions that have been around for centuries. He explained marriages and funerals are the big calendar occasions, as well as Christmas. The jumping of the broomstick, where newly married couples go hand-in-hand over a brush, was also an example of one such tradition. Mr Herring also pointed out that despite mostly keeping it in the Romany Gypsy community, there were no rules against marrying outsiders. He said: 'We try to marry in the Roma community, but you don't have to. 'Once [outsiders] are in, they often don't want to leave. 'Once you are married, you are married for life. And the girls go and live with their husbands and their families. Mr Herring's wife, Tina, added: 'Girls have got to be kept pure until they are married. 'Everyone travels to be together for weddings and funerals. Everyone will come from miles around.' But Mr Herring claimed shows such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding had peddled offensive falsities about some supposed traditions. The controversial act of 'grabbing' seen on the show, where young men throw women over their shoulders to force a kiss, was apparently one such myth. Mr Herring said: 'We don't believe in that; that's just something the young boys started doing. 'That Big Gypsy Weddings show… It's a load of nonsense. That brought on the misconceptions - it's all put on. 'If you tried to grab a Gypsy girl at a wedding, you would get a punch: that's disrespecting that woman.' Tina agreed: 'Lots of things were wrong on that show. 'Religion is a big part of our culture. Everybody believes in the Lord and bringing kids up with Christian values.' She added charity was also a big part of the culture. Mr Herring said: 'Because we know what it's like to not have any bread in you, or not to have a roof over your head. 'If we see someone who needs help, we help them. We can't understand why people don't do the same for us.' Mr Herring's wife explained keeping a clean home was also essential to their way of life, crediting it for helping to stop the spread of diseases in their community. She said: 'We like a bottle of bleach and always have done. 'A lot of people only use bleach in their toilets, but we use it everywhere. 'We've got funny beliefs and strict rules.' She explained another of those beliefs as being that toilets and showers inside their caravans are never used, saying: 'Never in a million years do you use the toilet or shower in your caravan. 'It's too close to your sink.' Instead, travellers use publicly available shower blocks and toilets, or facilities in gyms and pubs. Mr Herring added he prayed their next site would be clean when he was a young boy, as it was always his job to clear it. 'And people have the cheek to say, "Dirty, stinking gypsies",' he said. Tina also revealed a lesser-known tradition after the passing of loved ones in the Romany Gypsy community, saying: 'When you die, if there's no one to live in your caravan, the caravan gets burned.' Animals and storytelling were also said to play big roles in Romany Gypsy life. Mr Herring explained: 'Because we couldn't read or write, we told stories. 'Animals are a big part of our lives; the country is our lives, and we love the country.' Food, as in most cultures, was also said to be instrumental in bringing together the family for evening meals. The family explained how 'old-fashioned' dishes, like meat puddings and rice puddings, were cooked in centuries-old cast-iron pots that had brought to life thousands of meals over the years. They made the comments in the backdrop of ancient pots that hung in an open shed on the family's site, under which a young Jack Russell puppy barked below a framed photo of the Kray twins, who were of Romany descent. Tina explained the pots - always heated over dead wood, which 'doesn't smoke' - locked the taste and smell of the food cooked in them. She said: 'Meat's a big part of our diet. I have never met a vegetarian gypsy in my life.' Despite a reputation for violence and bare-knuckle boxing, Mr Herring claimed the majority of the time, disputes were settled with words rather than fists. He said their Christian values also encouraged them to help out others in need, such as motorists who'd broken down near their site. And Tina recalled stepping in during the beating of a young girl, who she took in and cleaned up after intervening. This is the first time the family have been granted permission to stay permanently at a site, meaning their children can continue studying at local schools. Mr Herring said: 'All we want is somewhere to stop. 'We keep it clean and tidy and nobody has complained about us. 'We went to the courts and won our case. We are a quiet family and we are willing to pay our way. We pay to stay here, for the bins and the toilets. 'Our children love the school here. I have never been to school in my life. It's not because we're stupid, it's because we've not had a place to call home. 'The kids ask with their homework, "Is this right?" and I say, "You tell me!". 'I am trying to bring my children up the best way I can. 'There's a lot of people who think travelling is a good way of life. 'You've got to be born with this and it goes through generations. 'I am so proud of being a gypsy. There's good and bad, but they all paint us with the same brush.' Having spent their lives up until now constantly on the move, only looking for a new site 'once we got bored', the family has stated they are now content to stay at the Wigmore Coach Park site, saying it's become more and more difficult to keep moving. Mr Herring said the children are said to be 'over the moon' at being able to have birthday parties, which they were reluctant to have whilst moving around for fear of being moved on - with Tina saying they were once moved on three times one Christmas Eve. The family recalled horrific instances of racism against their people in decades gone by, with Mr Herring claiming a police officer once told him: 'Hitler had the right idea with you; they should've shot you all.' Other horror stories included burning tyres being rolled under caravans in which children slept and having pesticide purposefully sprayed on them and their belongings. Tina also recounted children's nursery rhymes warning against 'playing with Gypsies', saying this added fuel to the fire of people's perception of them. Cllr Satinder Shokar, of Medway Council, who has supported the families at the Wigmore Coach Park site 'from day one', said he had personally seen evidence of racism against the families from the authorities. He explained: 'What I realised as a councillor was that the racism within organisations is institutionalised racism. 'There's not anywhere we didn't encounter it. We felt it important that their voices were heard. '[Being granted permanent residence at the Wigmore site] is another key victory for these families, offering further hope after years of repeated planning refusals. 'With over 90 per cent of applications refused nationwide, until these figures change, the long-term trend of cultural apartheid against the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community will persist.' It was revealed recently that cash-strapped Medway Council spent as much as £100,000 in taxpayer money on court fees fighting against the family's right to remain at the site. Mr Herring said he didn't blame outsiders for their 'misinformed', 'stereotypical' perception of his people. He said those who gave his people a bad name, were leaving trails of rubbish behind them after festivals and gatherings, often aren't even Gypsies but just 'like the way of life' and are 'lost'. Mr Herring said the same could also be said of many of those outside the Gypsy community, adding: 'There's no respect. 'I think they've just lost their way, but there's nothing wrong with them. 'Respect for the elders is a big thing for us: respect your parents and grandparents. 'We don't believe in letting our children go. That's our job, from the moment I got my eldest son. 'Our way of life is coming to an end. But we don't want our tradition and culture to end. 'We are holding our hands up and saying, "We want to stay here". 'This is paradise for us. Just stopping here... It's like winning the lottery. 'They are realising we are human beings.' 'We are comfortable here,' Tina agreed. 'We are starting to be accepted.'
