Joseph McCann hunt: Police searching for rape and kidnapping suspect 'arrest man after stand-off'

Joseph McCann
Metropiltan Police
Jason Collie6 May 2019

Police hunting an "extremely dangerous" fugitive over the kidnap and rape of three women have arrested a man after a stand-off overnight following a new abduction.

Police hunting Joseph McCann arrested a suspect who had fled up a tree following a car crash near the Cheshire town of Congleton.

Residents today told of the dramatic moment a black Fiat Punto was chased by police through the centre of the town at around 6.45pm yesterday evening. The Punto hit another car and the driver fled, leaving the victims unhurt but "extremely shaken", Cheshire Police said.

The suspect was found in the tree on Smithy Lane, a rural road just outside the town, following road checks and closures.

Negotiators and paramedics were deployed and he was eventually taken into custody in the early hours of Monday morning.

A police helicopter near Congleton as part of the search for Joseph McCann
PA

Resident Robert Burns watched the scene unfold after police officers had checked his outbuildings and wheelie bins in search of the suspect.

The 45-year-old said: "We watched it all from upstairs. It was a long time, it [the stand-off] went on for about three hours.

"It was significant police presence, there were a lot of cars, all of the roads were closed."

Police issued a CCTV image of a suspect after two women were raped in north London
PA

A woman living nearby, who did not wish to be named, said: "There was a lot of police activity around.

"We saw the police helicopter. There were police cars up and down the road."

She said the situation was "unnerving."

"When you find yourself in the middle of something like that you're bound to wonder what's going on aren't you?" she said.

Scotland Yard detectives launched a hunt for suspected rapist and kidnapper McCann after he snatched two women in their 20s off the streets in north London on April 25 in separate incidents.

He is also suspected of abducting a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in Watford in the early hours of April 21 and raping her.

Officers believe McCann was being hidden by a friend or family member.

Detectives previously launched a hunt for the suspected rapist and kidnapper after he allegedly snatched two women in their 20s off the streets in north London on April 25 in separate incidents.

​Scotland Yard offered a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to his arrest and prosecution.

He is also suspected of abducting a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in Watford in the early hours of April 21 and raping her.