'I can't ever go back' says woman raped in park attack

For years, Sandwell Valley was a place Amanda Quiney could go when she needed some peace.

It was somewhere she could escape to, sit and read, or simply have five minutes to herself.

Now, the 28-year-old says she does not know if she will ever be able to return. "I won't ever go back… I can't ever go back there to the park, ever," she said.

On 29 June, Quiney was found injured after what West Midlands Police believe was a rape.

Warning: This article contains details of sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.

She had been sitting alone reading her book before making her way back to her car when, she says, she suddenly lost consciousness.

"I didn't even get halfway, and it was just force to the head, and until then, I woke up. There was absolutely nothing else that I could remember."

When she came round, she said she was face down and realised her leggings and underwear were around her ankles.

"I only had one shoe on… the right side of my shirt was all ripped from the collar."

She said she had been moved from a muddy trail to an area beside some bushes.

She suffered a number of injuries, including a bleeding wound to her head, cuts and bruising to her face and marks around her neck.

"I had a cut to the top of my eyebrow, my eyelids. I had a lump on my head.

"Days later I had two black eyes, I had marks on my neck that looked like love bites, but we don't know whether it was a love bite or whether it was generally just the struggle," she said.

She said she wanted to speak publicly because she hopes it will encourage other victims to come forward and seek justice.

"I've come out and I've waived my anonymity because I believe that every single person should be able to speak up when they've gone through something so traumatic."

She said the support of family and friends had helped her make the decision, particularly because her experiences when she was younger had been different.

Quiney, a mother of four, said the park had previously been a safe space for her.

"If I needed to cry, I could physically just sit there and cry. If I just needed five minutes away from the children, I could just do that, and that's what it's been like for me for years."

She took part in a community walk intended to reclaim the spirit of the park, but said the experience had left her unable to return.

"[The] emotions and the hurt and the pain that was there with him was something I don't think I could ever move on from. It's such a horrible shame because… not only did I love it [there], but my children loved it there."

Quiney said the area had been unusually quiet that morning and that she had not seen anyone else while sitting there, or immediately after the attack.

She said she was frustrated by the lack of forensic or eyewitness evidence currently available to investigators.

"Somebody out there must have seen… even if it seems so little to them, it could be so big for the police. It could be such a huge thing that we need.

"It's just full of such unknown activities and unknown answers."

West Midlands Police said it was continuing its investigation and appealing to anyone who may have information about what happened to come forward.

Police are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have seen unusual activity in the area, or who may have information that could help establish what happened.

Quiney said she hoped sharing her experience would encourage anyone who saw something unusual that morning to contact police.

• If you have been affected by sexual assault or violence, support and information is available through the BBC Action Line.

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