Do you know who this man is?

Police in Cheltenham have released CCTV of a man they want to speak to about the sexual assault of a boy on the St Pauls Road.

It happened sometime between 4.15pm and 4.30pm on Thursday September 30 when the eight year old boy was sat on a ‘wheelie bin’ near to the Hardwicke Campus of the University of Gloucestershire.

He was approached by a man who assaulted him by kissing him on the lips and cheek and then lifted him up off the bin. The boy then ran from the scene.

Detective Constable Nicola Nicholson said:

“We have been following all lines of enquiries following this assault and are now appealing to the public for their help identifying the man.

“Were you in the area around this time? Do you recognise the man from the description or the CCTV image? If so then please give us a call.”

The man was described as black, aged between 48 and 58 and around 5ft 6” tall. He had grey hair, a grey ‘goatie’ beard, dark eyes and a ‘cooked’ nose. He was wearing a cream coloured blazer, white shirt, cream/brown trousers and black shoes.

DC Nicholson continued:

“We would like to reassure the local community that incidents of this nature are extremely rare. This assault is being taken very seriously and thoroughly investigated.”

Anyone who recognises the man or has any information about the incident is asked to contact Gloucestershire Constabulary on 0845 090 1234 quoting incident number 353 of September 30. You can also report information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.