SHE was just half a mile from home when the stranger approached and clamped his hand over her mouth to stop her screams.

The 18-year-old had just said goodnight to her friend as they parted ways to make the final part of their journeys home.

But moments later the terrified teenager was dragged to the driveway of a nearby house in the plush Sleepers Hill in Winchester. She was pulled to the ground and raped.

Now, 27 years later, the hunt to find the sex attacker has been relaunched by Hampshire’s cold case team and has taken on a new twist, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Detectives reviewing the most serious of unsolved sex attacks and rapes in the county have used new technology to extract the rapist’s DNA profile.

After work was carried out around the new evidence they have discovered they are now on the trail of a serial sex attacker who is responsible for two other brutal rapes in the county.

The man is known to have attacked two other teenage girls in the town of Whitchurch, north of Winchester, and the village of Dummer, on the outskirts of Basingstoke.

Both rapes took place in 1982, just two months apart, and both victims were 18- year-old women.

He is first known to have struck on the evening of Wednesday, October 27, after the victim and her friend left the White Hart pub in Whitchurch at about 9.45pm.

They walked to the bus stop outside International Stores and while they waited the pair saw a white Ford Capri car with a black roof drive around the area.

The driver was a man with dark hair.

As her friend left on the bus, the woman walked along Winchester Street, crossing the junction with Test Road where she saw a man.

She carried on walking before turning into an alleyway. On hearing footsteps behind her, she turned to see the same man she had seen earlier in Test Road. As she hurriedly carried on he put his hand over her mouth, pushed her over a low wall into a garden and subjected her to the ordeal, before running away.

During police interviews at the time, the woman described the rapist as a white man, around 5ft 7in tall, with medium blond hair that was swept back. He had a moustache and a beard.

Two months on the vile sex attacker struck again – this time in the peaceful village of Dummer, the childhood home of the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.

It was two days before Christmas when the 18-yearold got off the bus in the picturesque village at around 6.30pm.

She saw a large blue estate car, which she thought at the time may have been a Peugeot, parked near to the village church.

As she approached she noticed the engine running and the inside light on, but it stopped as she walked by.

She then turned to see the man running towards her, putting his hand up to cover her eyes as he walked her back to his car.

He dragged her inside, pulling a coat over her head so she couldn’t see as he drove a short distance in the dark, PVC-lined vehicle.

Moments later she was allowed out of the vehicle and made to climb over a small gate, but when he heard a noise the man took her back to the car and they drove again before he stopped and let her out.

There, at a deserted location, he laid her down on the ground and raped her. He then drove off, abandoning her up a track.

Throughout her ordeal, the victim was never able to see her attacker who always kept her head covered, but she described to police how he had rough hands and smelt strongly of farm animals.

It was some 18 months later when the rapist is known to have struck again – this time in the leafy suburb of Winchester.

It was 11.30pm as the woman walked along Sleepers Hill and into Dawn Gardens that she became aware of the man who then put his hand over her mouth and dragged her to a driveway.

The road is one of the most affluent in the historic city– privately owned with imposing Victorian detached mansions and long driveways.

At the time, the horrifying crime made headlines in the Daily Echo as the search continued to find the attacker who had got out of a brown coloured Ford Cortina.

The girl also helped police to draw up a photofit of the rapist who she said was white, about 5ft 8in tall, of average build with fair to dark wavy hair and a moustache.

He was wearing a blue denim jacket and jeans.

Detective Inspector Julian Venner said: “Using advances in DNA technology we are now able to forensically link all three attacks to the same suspect.

“Unfortunately this suspect is not currently on the national DNA database. We are therefore appealing to the public to examine all three cases and if you think you know who this individual is or can provide any additional information please contact us so that we can identify the man responsible for these horrific crimes.

“These women were all brutally attacked, and we are absolutely determined to bring this man to justice and seek some closure for these three victims.”

• Can you help? Did you suspect someone you knew at the time of one of the sex attacks, or maybe you know someone who fits the description or drove a similar car who was acting suspiciously?

Contact the Operation Galaxy team at Hulse Road on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The three attacks

Case One:

Date: Wednesday October 27, 1982.
Location: Whitchurch footpath.
Summary: Man approached victim from behind, covering her mouth with his hand, pushed over garden wall and raped. He then ran off.
Attacker: approx 5ft 7in, medium blond hair, moustache.

CASE TWO:

Date: Thursday December 23, 1982.
Location: Dummer village.
Summary: Attacker ran up behind victim, covered her face and dragged her into a car, drove her to deserted location and raped her on the ground before leaving her in dirt track.
Attacker: Not seen but had rough hands and smelt of farm animals.

Drove large estate car with dark lining.

Case Three

Date: Friday June 15, 1984.
Location: Sleepers Hill, Winchester.
Summary: Grabbed by man who ran up behind her, placing his hand over her mouth. Dragged to driveway of a house and raped. He ran off.
Attacker: approx 5ft 8in, average build with fair to dark wavy hair and a moustache.