Man charged with offences following incident in Liverpool city centre

We have charged a man with various offences following an incident in Liverpool city centre on Saturday, 25 October.

At around 8am, officers attended the International Inn on South Hunter Street to reports of a man assaulting and sexually assaulting a woman in a communal area.

A man was detained at the scene.

James Duggan, 40, of no fixed abode, has been charged with the following offences:
Assault by beating
Sexual assault on a female
Breach of a Sexual Risk Order

Duggan was remanded in custody and appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court this morning, Monday 27 October. He was further remanded in custody to next appear at Liverpool Magistrates Court next Monday, 3 November. 

To report a sexual offence, you can call 101 where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers or you can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always call 999.

If you have been a victim of sexual assault or rape, you can access specialist support services, which are free of charge and available to anyone. You do not need a referral or to have reported an incident to Merseyside Police before you access these specialist support services.

These services can support you in a variety of ways, including offering a confidential discussion if you are thinking of making a police report, but are unsure what that involves and would like to discuss it.

If you do decide to report to Merseyside Police, you will receive support throughout the investigation, court process and beyond.

You can choose to make an anonymous report through the Sexual Assault Referral Centre called Safe Place, or the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor service, rather than coming directly to Merseyside Police.

With no police involvement, a specialist doctor at Safe Place can examine you to check that you are ok and look for DNA evidence, which they will store to support your case. This gives you the option of making a formal police report at a later time, if you choose to.

Support is also available in Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, from Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (RASA) Merseyside who are available on 0151 558 1801 and, in St Helens and Knowsley, by the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) Cheshire and Merseyside who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063.

If you do not require immediate police assistance, then you can report rape and sexual assault via our website here:
https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/rsa/alpha-v1/advice/rape-sexual-assault-and-other-sexual-offences/  

Support is also available through the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Victim Care Merseyside service: Home: Victim Care Merseyside   

Read more about our Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) campaign to put the voices of women and girls at the heart of our work to tackle VAWG. You can find out more about the campaign here: www.merseyside.police.uk/vawg.