Police have issued further assurances following a widespread online report of a serious sexual assault in Aberdeenshire.
A post on Instagram shared yesterday by Elgin-based bar company Humble Cocktails described an incident in which a woman had been raped, and found at the roadside in Banchory.
The company claimed two of their employees discovered a woman “left for dead” with a belt around her neck at the side of the road, early in the morning at the weekend.
The picture was put up with the slogan ‘She was just walking home’, which has been adopted by campaigners for women’s safety in the wake of numerous high-profile incidents.
It also claimed she was unconscious, but began breathing again after an hour of CPR from the staff members, and police and ambulance arrived shortly afterwards.
However, police yesterday said they had no received no reports of such an incident.
‘Suggestions that a serious sexual assault took place would be wholly inaccurate’
And today, following further inquiries and questions from the public, police have confirmed that concerns had been raised for the well-being of a woman but is has been established she is safe and well.
In a Facebook post, the force said: “Following online reports about an alleged incident in Banchory over the weekend, officers have carried out a number of inquiries into the matter.
“We can confirm that concerns were raised regarding the well-being of a woman, however it has been established she is safe and well.
“No crimes have been reported and any suggestions that a serious sexual assault took place would be wholly inaccurate.”
Humble Cocktails has also commented, defending their original post and staff – saying their employees’ honesty and integrity should not have been questioned.
The caption says: “We can confirm that on their way home from an event on Saturday, our staff discovered an unconscious woman lying by the side of the road, summoned medical help and alerted the police.
“They were given an explanation of what had happened to the woman and have no reason to doubt that explanation.
“This was an extremely distressing incident for our staff to be involved in.”
It continues: “On the advice of the police we will not be commenting any further but could not stand by and let the integrity of our staff be questioned in public.
“We would ask those questioning the honesty of our staff to consider how this may be affecting them, especially when they have already been profoundly affected by what they encountered on Saturday.”