Prowling rapist stalked me like prey as I left Xmas party – I was slammed to the concrete & thought I’d die
Share:
PILING into a photobooth with her colleagues, Charlie Gilbert, 26, rummaged through the fancy-dress box and pulled on a silly hat and sunglasses. It was January 2023 and Charlie, then 25, was having a blast as she took snaps and sipped vodka and lemonades with her work colleagues at a post Christmas do.
![[Alin-Vasile lercosan caught on CCTV following Charlie after she leaves the party]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/read-happened-shocked-stark-contrast-956573195.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
But just hours later as she made her way home, Charlie was followed, dragged into a car park, and raped by a man who had been watching her every move. “The night was great with everyone having fun,” says Charlie, who has bravely waived her right to anonymity.
![[Charlie pictured enjoying herself at the party with friends before the evening took a sinister turn]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/read-happened-shocked-stark-contrast-956573189.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
“What I didn’t know was that a stranger, Alin-Vasile Iercosan, was lurking and watching my every move. It sickens me that as I partied he studied me from a distance.". After a few hours at the party, Charlie went outside for a cigarette and spotted a man standing in front of the bar, vaping.
![[Charlie is now rebuilding her life after the horrific attack which followed the party with colleagues]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/read-happened-shocked-stark-contrast-956573075.jpg?strip=all&w=765)
“He was short, with bright blue eyes and a brown mohawk. I didn’t know his name, but I knew I’d seen him around work before. I smiled politely, and he smiled back," she recalls. Moments later, when Charlie walked back inside, the mysterious man was nowhere to be seen.
![[Alin-Vasile Iercosan in his police mugshot taken following his arrest for the attack on Charlie]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/read-happened-shocked-stark-contrast-956573224_7b2c4e.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
At 3.30am, after saying bye to her work mates, she began walking to the centre of town to find a taxi home. Charlie says: “I tried to call my parents to ask for a lift but they were asleep and didn’t answer. “So I staggered alone in the dark, walking towards the main road where I saw the taxi rank.
