Holloway mourns death of student - The Founder

4 The Founder | Thursday 15 January 2009
News
Student attack featured on BBC Crimewatch
Tom Matthews
Chief News Editor
The serious sexual assault on a female
student first reported by The
Founder in October has featured
on BBC Crimewatch, resulting in a
number of calls and important information.
The incident took place on Prune
Hill in Englefield Green between
22:00 and 23:00 on Saturday 27th
September. The lone female student
was physically and sexually assaulted
by two male suspects before the
victim was able to free herself, running
away towards the A30.
The 19 year old got off a train at
Egham station at around 10pm and
was approached by two men, who
tried to engage her in conversation.
The student ignored the men and
walked along Rushman Park Avenue.
The victim then passed along
either Braywood Avenue or Daleham
Avenue before turning right
onto Whitehall Lane.
Detective Inspector Brendan Collins,
who is leading the investigation,
told The Founder: “This was
a very serious incident and we are
RHUL enjoys
success in
2008 RAE
» continued from front page
staff selected for inclusion.
The new scoring system that applies
for the RAE 2008 measures
research quality in four categories,
with the top score of 4* indicating
quality that is world-leading and of
the highest standards in terms of
originality, significance and rigour.
The Principal, Professor Stephen
Hill, told The Founder: “The results
of the RAE 2008 demonstrate
that Royal Holloway remains one of
the UK’s leading research universities.
The College is ranked 16th in
terms of research of 4* standard.
Royal Holloway has a broad range
of excellent researchers and departments.
Our results are testament
both to the hard work and dedication
of our staff and the investment
that we have made over the past
seven years.”
Overall, Royal Holloway is positioned
above many of the Russell
Group universities, including Birmingham,
Newcastle, Glasgow and
Liverpool.
The College is ranked 6th out of
18 institutions belonging to the
1994 Group of research-led institutions
on 3* & 4* scores, and in the
doing everything possible to track
down those responsible.” He also
stressed that incidents such as this
are very rare in Surrey, and urged
anyone with any further information
to come forward.
A reconstruction of the incident
was also featured on the BBC Programme,
and Detectives are now
South East region, Royal Holloway
ranks 3rd after Oxford and Southampton.
The Department of Music at Royal
Holloway was ranked number
one in the UK during the Research
Assessment Exercise.
Enjoying continued success, the
Department of Music’s outstanding
achievement is the result of worldleading
research excellence.
Commenting on Music’s outstanding
achievement, Dr James
Dack, Head of the Department, said
“This result is further recognition
of the excellence in the Department
and reflects the breadth and depth
of its musicological research.”
The Department’s strengths include
large-scale centres and research
projects funded by research
councils and charities including
AHRC, British Academy, Leverhulme
Trust and the Mellon Foundation.
Within the last 18 months individual
or collaborative research has
secured some £166,000 of funding
to support various projects. A
three-year British Academy Post-
Doctoral Fellowship has been located
in the Department from 2008,
with a research specialism in the
musical culture of the Far East the
Chinese Diaspora.
Most recently, a collaborative
project involving a member of the
Department as co-investigator has
been awarded a substantial grant
following up several lines of enquiry.
Police are appealing for anyone
who may have seen the suspects.
The first is described as being of
thin build, around 6ft tall and wearing
a dark hooded top with a zip and
jeans. The second man is described
as being of larger build, around 6ft
1in tall, wearing a dark hooded top
under the AHRC Beyond Text
Scheme.
The Department is equally active
in terms of research in the creative
fields of musical performance and
composition.
The Department established its
status as one of the foremost university
departments in the UK for
research with a 5* rating in the 1996
RAE and was one of only three departments
of music to gain a second
5* in 2001.
A further eight departments at
Royal Holloway are in the top 10 of
the Research Assessment Exercise
2008 ranked by proportion of 3*
& 4* research: Biological Sciences
(joint 3rd), Drama (joint 9th), Earth
Sciences (joint 7th), Economics
(joint 9th), Geography (joint 9th),
German (joint 5th), Media Arts
(joint 6th) and Psychology (joint
5th).
Commenting on the result, Professor
Peter Bramley, Head of the
School of Biological Sciences said,
“I am delighted that the internationally
competitive quality of our
research has been recognised and
that the School is in the very top tier
of research-led departments in the
UK.”
Head of the Economics Department,
Professor Andrew Mountford
said, “The value of the research
conducted in the Department has
already been recognised by the various
governments and international
with a jumper over it and jeans. Police
believe one of the offenders may
have sustained a cigarette burn to
his right forearm during the attack.
Anyone with information is urged
to contact Staines CID on 0845 125
2222 quoting reference RM/08/3810
or to call CrimeStoppers anonymously
on 0800 555 111.
bodies who have used its members
as advisors and this value has now
been underlined by this excellent
result in the RAE. This outcome is
richly deserved and gives due recognition
for all the hard work that has
gone into developing the Department
since it was founded just over
10 years ago.”
Biological Sciences has benefited
from strategic investment in staff,
research and teaching facilities,
boosting the internationally competitive
quality of its research.
The Economics Department has
attracted first rate staff from all over
the world and excels in research
across the discipline, from Economic
History to Econometrics, from
Microeconomics to Macroeconomics
and from Experimental Economics
to Labour Economics and the
Economics of Education. All three
Research Centres in the School have
attracted major funding for research
during the past year.
With reference to Royal Holloway’s
ongoing collaborations with
partners including the SWAN alliance
and the proposed merger with
St George’s, University of London,
Principal Professor Stephen Hill,
added, “The strong results in the
Schools of Biological Sciences and
Management and Departments of
Psychology and Health and Social
Care provide an excellent basis for
our merger with St George’s, University
of London.”
Ashwood
Road attack
leaves student
with black eye
Amy Norman
A violent attack on a Royal Holloway
student in Englefield Green has
led to questions regarding the safety
of students in the village.
Police are appealing for witnesses
after a 19 year old History student
was set upon by a Rottweiler and
had two thugs repeatedly punch
him whilst he tried to save his car
from being vandalised. The attack
took place on Ashwood Road in the
early hours of Sunday, December 7.
The student, who asked not to be
named, was attempting to move his
car away from the two vandals who
were damaging other cars parked in
the street.
The car would not start, and the
men verbally abused the student,
before one man kicked the car and
the other punched the victim repeatedly
through an open window.
The two men had been walking
down Ashwood Road, vandalising
cars and hammering on the front
doors of houses.
The student received a black eye,
a minor cut to the forehead and had
his glasses smashed in the vicious attack.
He was eventually able to start
his car and drove to the university
campus, where he called the police.
Other students in the area around
Ashwood Road and Beechtree Avenue
regularly experience incidents
of antisocial behaviour, including
verbal abuse from children as young
as eight. Incidents of criminal damage
and assault are, however, relatively
infrequent in Runnymede.
Surrey Police told The Founder
that despite an “extensive search” of
the surrounding area, the suspects
were not located. Staines CID are
“actively investigating” the incident
and the victim has been contacted
to provide reassurance.
The student called the assault “terrifying”,
saying “I was worried they
were going to drag me out of the car
and finish me off.” Stating a shared
view of Royal Holloway students, he
said “I didn’t come to university to
be assaulted and scared”.
Police have asked anyone who
may have witnessed the incident on
Ashwood Road between 01:50 and
02:05 on Sunday 7th December to
contact Staines CID on 0845 125
2222 quoting reference RM/08/5378
or to call Crimestoppers anonymously
on 0800 555 111.