Pensioner, 71, tells how she was sexually assaulted by Joseph McCann

‘He said ‘I’ve got a knife, I killed somebody this morning”: Pensioner, 71, tells how she was sexually assaulted by Joseph McCann as she blasts Chris Grayling over probation service failures that left serial rapist free to attack

  • Joseph McCann, 34, attacked the pensioner in Morrison’s car park in Lancashire 
  • McCann struck the married woman, then demanded sex during five-hour ordeal
  • Last month McCann was jailed for a minimum of 30 years for raping women 

A 71-year-old pensioner has told how she was sexually assaulted by Joseph McCann and has blasted Chris Grayling over the probation service failures that left the serial rapist free to attack. 

Joseph McCann, 34, attacked the pensioner as she got into her black Fiat Punto in a Morrisons car park in Bury, Lancashire on May 5.

She had been attending a service at her local church before making her way to the supermarket to buy toiletries and make-up.

McCann struck the married woman, then demanded sex during a four and a half hour ordeal.

McCann struck the married woman, then demanded sex during a five-hour ordeal. Pictured: McCann during a separate incident at the Phoenix Lodge Hotel in Watford on the afternoon of April 25, as he left two women, his victims, in his car outside

He then forced the pensioner to perform a sex act upon him after parking in an industrial estate off a slip road.

McCann told her he had a knife and had recently killed someone as he smoked cigarettes and drank wine. 

Finally, at 6pm, she escaped his clutches at a service station in Knutsford, Cheshire. She drove up to a group of people, got out of the car and ran towards them saying that she had been abducted. 

Joseph McCann (pictured) was jailed for a minimum of 30 years for kidnapping and raping women and children in England

Joseph McCann (pictured) was jailed for a minimum of 30 years for kidnapping and raping women and children in England 

Joseph McCann has been described as one of the country’s most dangerous sex offenders and last month he was jailed for a minimum of 30 years for kidnapping and raping women and children in England. 

It emerged that he had been wrongly released from prison when he committed his crimes. 

The pensioner told officers in an interview played to jurors back in November: ‘He said: ‘I need a lift to the motorway. I do not want to hurt you; I have got a knife. I just killed someone’.

The 71-year-old added: ‘We got into this carpark and that is when he said: ‘So, we will have sex now,’ or words to that effect and I said no’. 

After she escaped McCann took her car and drove off before crashing it during a police chase.  

She added that she was coming forward to speak publicly because she was older and said she sympathised with the younger victims who would have to carry it with them for the rest of their lives. 

The victim added that the probation office that dealt with McCann was understaffed and had low morale, saying that was because of the changes that had been brought in by Chris Grayling. 

After the pensioner escaped McCann took her car and drove off (pictured) before crashing it during a police chase

After the pensioner escaped McCann took her car and drove off (pictured) before crashing it during a police chase

The first of his victims to speak publicly told the BBC that the ordeal lasted four and a half hours in total

The first of his victims to speak publicly told the BBC that the ordeal lasted four and a half hours in total

She said: ‘I think people that make those decisions at high levels should be brought to account.’

Chris Grayling, ex-Justice Secretary has defended himself saying McCann was supervised by staff in the public sector and not by a private company. 

The first of his victims to speak publicly told the BBC that she has never received an official apology and she believes senior figures should be held to account for probation failings which led to McCann’s mistaken release. 

He was found guilty of 37 charges relating to 11 victims, including eight rapes, false imprisonment and kidnap. 

The car that was stolen from the woman ended up crashing into another car (left) during the police chase that followed

The car that was stolen from the woman ended up crashing into another car (left) during the police chase that followed

A map shows the trail of misery McCann wrought across the country over two weeks

A map shows the trail of misery McCann wrought across the country over two weeks

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk