Today’s papers are reporting on a case currently focusing on Greater Manchester police’s hunt for a rapist which has spilled onto a Facebook Group entitled ‘Find the Sale rapist’.

CCTV footage of the offender has been posted to Facebook by the victim’s partner Glyn McCutcheon in a bid to track down and arrest the man in question. However, detectives working on the case have warned that the Facebook campaign could wreck the chance of a successful prosecution if the case ever reaches court. 

According to reports, the identification issue has alarmed Greater Manchester police, and a senior officer has contacted the man behind the page to advise him on the legal risks.

interestingly it is the police force’s own admission that their official website is is too overloaded to carry CCTV images of cases other than suspected murders for more than a few weeks. 

However Greater Manchester police cannot be accused of being behind the times in its stance on social media – as it has a pretty robust presence across multiple platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,MySpace and Bebo.

The hunt for a middle-aged white man, around 6ft and speaking with a local accent, has faced a series of problems since the attack early last August in which the 21-year-old victim was found sobbing and traumatised by the side of a road in Sale at around 3am after leaving a night out at a local pub to walk home to her parents.

The Facebook Group also includes four CCTV shots (see below) of a suspect, released by Greater Manchester police after a trawl of cameras at local pubs. Two of the pictures are from the King’s Ransom Pub where, according to the Facebook Group, the man claimed to drink regularly. He also appeared to know the surroundings streets well.

Grainy CCTV photos posted on the Facebook Group

The Facebook Group refers to the police “only just” releasing the images after eight months and the victim’s partner said that more publicity after the attack might have helped. He said:

“I have managed to get the picture out to more people who are likely to have been out that evening.”

The Facebook page also emphasises that people should contact the police, although it offers the option for private messaging to the group’s organiser. The introduction warns that threats against anyone thought to be the man on the film could lead to the site being closed down.

Text from the Facebook Group

This could be one of the first examples of a social networking site being used to track down a criminal – although the implications of blocking a prosecution could be counter-productive to the task at hand. However as the victim’s boyfriend puts it:

“I’ve been told the site could jeopardise a court case, but if he’s not caught, there won’t be a court case at all. I’d ask anyone who recognises the man to contact police.”

Police have asked for the site to be taken down amid fears it could jeopardise any court case, but the boyfriend said he intended to keep it online. The group already has 5,816 members at the time of this post being published.

This example raises a number of interesting points:

1) The impact of a civilian-led manhunt using social media could have longer-lasting judicial repercussions

2) Even a social media enlightened force such as Greater Manchester Police do not have the sufficient hosting abilities to store CCTV footage alongside their web appeals

3) There is a fine line between UGC appeals and vigilantism which is why the group admins have gone to lengths to urge people not to take matters into their own hands

4) The publicity of setting up one of these groups pays off in securing much wider traditional new coverage

5) The scope of this campaign has probably reached a much wider audience than a traditional police-led appeal

As always, I welcome your comments on this story.