EXCLUSIVEThe 勇敢に立ち向かう 新人 policewoman who became a honeytrap to help catch a murderous rapist: Michelle Tighe nervously 誘惑するd a 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う 負かす／撃墜する a dimly lit 味方する street, where he made the 冷気／寒がらせるing 脅し... '叫び声をあげる and I'll kill you'
The neon lights of clubland flashed red on PC Michelle Tighe's 直面する as she leaned 今後 to turn up the car's heater. She sank 支援する into the 乗客 seat, asking herself for the last time: is he out here tonight? It would be 2am soon, pub の近くにing time on a 冷淡な March night in Bristol, 1979. A few 人物／姿／数字s were already 宙返り／暴落するing の上に the pavements. A young man in a tight T-shirt and ゆらめくs squinted drunkenly at their police car and put out his 手渡す, trying to 旗 it 負かす／撃墜する.
'Better luck next time, matey,' said Kelvin, from behind the wheel. Michelle ちらりと見ることd at him. How many おとりs had Kelvin Hattersley helped （軍隊を）展開する，配備する over the past few months? Not that it 事柄d now. This was their last run, a final chance to catch the いわゆる 'Clifton Rapist', whose despicable 罪，犯罪s had terrorised the city.
Nine women had been horribly 強襲，強姦d. Public 怒り／怒る was at fever pitch. You only had to look at the 最新の headlines: 'A city in 恐れる'; 'The police should do more'; 'How many more women will be attacked before he kills?'?
Michelle, 23, was a 新人 officer who had volunteered for an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の undercover sting, 操作／手術 Argus.
Michelle Tighe was just 23 when she snared Clifton Rapist Ronald Evans, the man whose vicious 強襲，強姦s had terrorised Bristol for more than a year
Ron the Electrician: a family man, a loving father to a young daughter and husband to a 妊娠している wife, was unmasked as a violent rapist
Over a three-month period, she and 15 other officers ? a その上の 11 women and four men in drag ? had walked the 静かな streets at night, hoping to smoke out the 攻撃者. Tonight, the 操作／手術 was 存在 brought to a の近くに. Michelle ちらりと見ることd out at the darkened 味方する streets. Did the man lurk 負かす／撃墜する these roads like a spider in a web, setting a 罠（にかける） and waiting for a woman to 落ちる in? Or, like a predator, did he 選ぶ his 犠牲者 on the main street, then stalk her until he 設立する a dark corner?
As Kelvin slowed to a stop, Michelle pulled 負かす／撃墜する the sun visor and looked in the mirror. Her 注目する，もくろむs were dark, her 肌 pale from doing this 職業 night after night.
She opened the door and was 攻撃する，衝突する by a 塀で囲む of 冷淡な 空気／公表する. '支配する's left the car…' she heard Kelvin say.
She 長，率いるd up the incline に向かって Whiteladies Road, a 幅の広い thoroughfare with 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s, clubs, shops and restaurants on either 味方する. 'Alpha One. 支配する's past me,' she heard in her earpiece ? the 発言する／表明する of one of the hidden 監視 officers who would be 観察するing her.
The 冷淡な was seeping through her duffle coat. Kelvin's 発言する／表明する: 'There's a man on your tail. He's in a car, a Ford Capri. Repeat, a yellow Ford Capri. He's 運動ing behind you. Looks just like the photo-fit. Repeat, there's a man on your tail.'
Cars 巡航するd 負かす／撃墜する the hill に向かって her, but she could neither 焦点（を合わせる） on them nor on a （人が）群がる of women just yards away. She listened for a car behind her. Was that him? There had been no sound in her earpiece for a few minutes.
Then there was a crackle. And another 発言する／表明する, higher-pitched than Kelvin: 'This is 支配（する）／統制する. We've run a check on the number plate. You're not going to believe this. He's a 殺し屋. A 殺し屋. Out on life licence. He also 強姦d his 犠牲者.' It took a few moments for the words to land in her mind. A 殺し屋?
'You can pull out at any time. If you carry on, he has to touch you. Repeat. He has to touch you. But you don't have to go through with this…'
The attacks had begun on a warm summer night in July 1977. Hot Chocolate's So You 勝利，勝つ Again was playing as Alice Matthews, 27, left the 壇・綱領・公約 One nightclub, 近づく Clifton 負かす／撃墜する 駅／配置する, in the 早期に hours.
As she walked along Whiteladies Road ? the very 大勝する Michelle would take, working undercover ? she passed a toy shop window packed with 活動／戦闘 人物／姿／数字s from the new James 社債 film, The 秘かに調査する Who Loved Me.
Alice could hear footsteps. She turned, but there was no one there. She felt a sharp pang of 恐れる.
Then the footsteps began again. On impulse, she turned into Pembroke Road, a 幅の広い avenue with large, beautiful houses, and ducked into a garden to hide. In an instant, a man had both 手渡すs around her throat. He dragged her に向かって him and whispered: 'Don't 叫び声をあげる or I'll kill you.' Alice knew this wasn't a Bristol accent.
This man spoke with gruff, short vowels ? he （機の）カム from somewhere up north. She was sexually 強襲，強姦d. Somehow, through 涙／ほころびs, she managed to find a phone box and dial 999.
The police told her the best they could do was try to get a 血 配合 from 見本s on her 着せる／賦与するs ? such was the 明言する／公表する of 法廷のs in the 1970s ? and she could help with a photofit. Slowly, a picture appeared. He was white. He had a 厚い mane of 黒人／ボイコット shoulder-length hair, a large handlebar moustache, dark, almost 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs and unblemished 肌.
Evans at a wedding as a younger man. He remains in 刑務所，拘置所 to this day
Michelle Tighe, who helped to catch sex 攻撃者 Evans, pictured in 1981 with her award for bravery
That was him. That was the man. Strangely, she felt more angry at herself than at him: 'Why didn't I fight? I just froze.'
She believed the chances of catching him were equal to the column インチs in the papers: 無.
There was no 報告（する）／憶測 of what happened to her in that week's Bristol Evening 地位，任命する.
There was no 強姦 危機 centre in the 1970s. 犠牲者 Support had been 始める，決める up a couple of years before, but Alice wasn't referred. 支援する then, women just had to get on with it.
The second attack （機の）カム three days later, when 18-year-old Patsy Delaney ? the youngest 犠牲者 ? left Tiffany's nightclub at the far end of Whiteladies Road just after 1am. The first she knew of the attack was the man's 手渡すs around her throat and a beer-soaked 発言する／表明する whispering something about her 存在 killed if she 叫び声をあげるd.
He dragged her into a doorway and asked if she'd been 強姦d before. When she said 'No' he told her she would be now.
Afterwards, she ran to a phone box and called her boyfriend. They drove around looking for the 攻撃者 and at one point saw a yellow Ford Capri in the distance ? but it could have been anyone 運動ing. Patsy went to the police, but ? like Alice ? was told that if the 見本 含む／封じ込めるd enough semen they might get the 攻撃者's 血 group.
She went home traumatised, depressed and angry. The next day, the first article about the sex attacks appeared in the Bristol Evening 地位，任命する, 挟むd between a 報告（する）／憶測 on the 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なうing cost of school meals and a feature about a 97-year-old 支持を得ようと努めるd carver.
Denise Turner, a 33-year-old folk singer returning home from a gig, was attacked in September. Helene Baur, 21, an Austrian student, was 強姦d in November. Over Christmas, things went 静かな, but in March 1978 there were two attacks. Joanna McGarry, a 23-year-old 法律 student who was working in a 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 before taking time out to travel, was 運動ing home after の近くにing time when she noticed she was 存在 followed by a yellow Ford Capri. As she pulled over, she saw the yellow car 運動 past. Joanna got out of her car, の近くにd and locked its door and walked to her flat.
The man appeared from behind some bushes. He told her not to 叫び声をあげる. If she did, he would kill her. He then dragged her into the garden. Later that month Wendy Johnson, a 21-year-old nurse, was attacked in an alleyway in Kingsdown as she walked home from the Bristol 王室の Infirmary.
She noticed little about the man but his dark 着せる／賦与するs and the smell of alcohol.
The いわゆる Clifton Rapist was now headline news ? at least 地元で. 国家的に, the 焦点（を合わせる） was on the north of England, where the Yorkshire Ripper was on the loose, committing 集まり 殺人. But 関心s for women's safety were 存在 raised, と一緒に growing 批評 of Avon and Somerset Police. Why weren't they getting anywhere? In April, 45-year-old Rachel Doultn was attac ked in her Clifton flat.
In December, Tilly Sanderson was 強襲，強姦d. She had so little 約束 in the police that she did not even 報告（する）／憶測 the attack. Just a week later Anna Soltys, 20, a ポーランドの（人） au pair, was 的d.
Like Alice Matthews, the first 犠牲者, she was on her way home from the 壇・綱領・公約 One nightclub.
一方／合間, Michelle was just out of basic training and learning 急速な／放蕩な how 限界ing life as a WPC could be. She was not 許すd to visit a 罪，犯罪 scene without a male officer. On night 転換s, women were not 許すd to leave the 駅／配置する at all, but she could 'man' the 前線 desk, a 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 that made her inwardly groan. Women could be part of the police 軍隊, that was 受託するd. Typists, canteen ladies, definitely. Officers, 潜在的に.
探偵，刑事s, no. At Redland police 駅／配置する, 事例／患者s 伴う／関わるing 探偵，刑事s meant climbing the attic stairs to the smoke-filled CID room where the self-布告するd 'Gods' worked: 'Make us a cup of tea, sweetheart,' was the 在庫／株 request shouted at women before they could ask about the 罪，犯罪 they needed to discuss. So it was unusual ? thrilling even ? to be called to a secret 要点説明 in January 1979. By this time, the Clifton Rapist had been active for 18 months. The police had interviewed known 違反者／犯罪者s and flooded the streets with 制服を着た officers, but several 逮捕（する）s had led nowhere. 犠牲者s had failed to identify anyone in police line-ups. The two foreign girls who had been 強襲，強姦d had given up and gone home.
Hundreds of people carrying 炎上ing たいまつs had gathered in 前線 of the town hall, with 旗，新聞一面トップの大見出し／大々的に報道するs held aloft reading 'Anti-強姦 Group Bristol', 'Young or old, no escape, we all go in 恐れる of 強姦'.
'Nine women have been attacked. What have the police done?' shouted a 抗議する人.
'Nothing,' 詠唱するd the （人が）群がる.
At home, on a Friday night off, a junior officer was watching a TV 文書の about an American おとり捜査. After a string of 窃盗s, the police had left a 配達／演説／出産 先頭 with its doors temptingly open, then pounced when a どろぼう had made a 得る，とらえる for something. That was important. The 犯罪の had to commit a 罪，犯罪 ? had to take something ? before the covert team leapt in.Could that work with a rapist? It is perhaps a 調印する of Avon and Somerset's desperation that the idea made its way up the line.
At the 初期の 操作／手術 Argus 要点説明, 長，指導者 Superintendent Malcolm Popperwell, 長，率いる of C-分割, which controlled the Clifton area, 強調d how dangerous taking part might be: 'Our 意向 is that he sees a girl, is 誘惑するd into the dark, pounces and is caught.' 'I'm in,' said Michelle.
She and the other volunteers, both men and women, would get self-defence training, and be carrying 無線で通信するs, hanging from a neck ひもで縛る to receive messages from 同僚s through a 控えめの earpiece. 操作／手術 Argus opened on a 氷点の night in January on what was already becoming known as the Winter of Discontent. 同様に as 存在 one of the coldest on 記録，記録的な／記録する, everyone seemed to be going on strike: lorry drivers, 貯蔵所 men, even gravediggers.
But what followed were weeks of discontent for the police too. They walked the streets at night to no avail. The men, at least, were paid overtime. The women were not.
One night, one of Michelle's 上級の, married 同僚s spotted her and drew up in his car. She noticed the 禁止（する）d of white 肌 on the third finger of his left 手渡す. 'Where's your wife tonight?' 'She's happy with me going out. You know, I saw a few of the boys earlier and just thought I'd have a bit of a 巡航する.' Disco music was playing on his car （衆議院の）議長.
'Do you like ワイン, Michelle? Bet you can't afford it on your 支払う／賃金. I've become a bit of a connoisseur. You know, I' ve got a 瓶／封じ込める of something really special in the 支援する.' Michelle started walking. The Rover followed slowly. 'Jump in, let's have a drink,' he 固執するd. Michelle stopped. Then she said gently, while （電話線からの）盗聴 her ear: 'Argus.' She relished the look of horror on his 直面する when he realised 支配（する）／統制する had heard every word.
On March 21, 1979, the team was told the 操作／手術 was too expensive to continue.Michelle wasn't even meant to be on the final run. One of her flatmates, Jackie, was on the rota but had to be in 法廷，裁判所 早期に next morning and asked Michelle to take her place. So it was in the very last hours of 操作／手術 Argus that Michelle got that message telling her she was 存在 tailed by a man who had been 拘留するd for 強姦 and 殺人.
She knew that if she went through with this, she would have to lead him into a 味方する street. There, and only there, might he attack. He had 脅すd to kill every 選び出す／独身 one of his Bristol 犠牲者s. What if he had a knife? What if he took her 人質? 'Do you copy?' crackled the 発言する／表明する in her earpiece. 'You have a 殺し屋 on your 跡をつける.' Ahead was the 井戸／弁護士席-lit road: safety. To her left, the darkened 味方する streets: danger.
Michelle took a 深い breath and made up her mind.
She tried to remember what she'd been taught about self-defence, how to 反応する if he tried to strangle her. It was dark, but there was a street lamp up ahead: 'All I have to do is get there,' she thought. Once she was within its pool of light, fellow police officers hidden in nearby gardens or waiting in cars would have a good 見解（をとる） of her. She had heard footsteps.
Now there was silence: that was scarier. Then, suddenly, there he was. They stood under the glare of a street lamp: 罪人／有罪を宣告するd 殺し屋 and おとり 警官，（賞などを）獲得する.
He seemed to be looking straight through her. Then he said: 'Don't 叫び声をあげる or I'll kill you.'
Michelle felt his 手渡すs around her throat. He dragged her に向かって a garden. She 叫び声をあげるd at the 最高の，を越す of her 発言する／表明する, then felt a rough punch to her 直面する. She recoiled, shouted again. The man pulled her faster and harder into the 不明瞭.
PC Andy Kerslake sprinted acr oss the road, hoping to find the 権利 garden. Ronald Evans made a run for it: Andy rugby-取り組むd him to the ground. Kelvin was shouting, '承認する, lads, who's got the cuffs?'
Michelle つまずくd out of the garden. 'We're going to need a 声明 from you,' said Kelvin. She was very pale, with 示すs around her neck. As she was driven to Redland police 駅／配置する she was shaking.
But when she walked into the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 at the 駅／配置する the に引き続いて evening (this was the 1970s, when many police 駅／配置するs had their own 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 and snooker room) she was 迎える／歓迎するd with a 元気づける.
She was 支援する-slapped, hugged and embraced by officers she had never met, 同様に as many she counted as friends.
Ronald Evans, the Clifton Rapist ? the man whose vicious 強襲，強姦s had terrorised Bristol for more than a year ? had finally been caught.
Ron the Electrician: a family man, a loving father to a young daughter and husband to a 妊娠している wife, had been unmasked as a violent rapist. His friends and 同僚s knew nothing of his 罪，犯罪, nor that he had killed 21-year-old Kathleen Heathcote in Nottinghamshire in 1963, when he was just 22.
He had pounced after 製図／抽選 up beside her in his car as she walked home at night. Her 団体／死体 was later dredged from a lake. He was 宣告，判決d to life 監禁，拘置 for her 殺人, but had been 解放（する）d on licence in 1975.
When he was 逮捕（する）d for the その後の 強姦s, he tried to 否定する everything, but 結局 認める to five of the 強襲，強姦s. That was enough for the police to get him to 法廷，裁判所. He could give no 推論する／理由 for his behaviour. Evans was 解任するd to 刑務所，拘置所 to serve his life 宣告，判決, and got 18 months for every woman he 認める attacking.
The 裁判，公判 原因（となる）d a sensation, not just because the Clifton Rapist had been nailed but because of the astonishing story of the おとり 操作／手術 that had brought him in.
Michelle ? whose bravery was commended by the 裁判官 ? 苦しむd recurring nightmares for months after. She was never 申し込む／申し出d any counselling or support. In the weeks that followed Evans' 逮捕（する）, no one of a higher 階級 ever asked how she was getting on. It was just part of the 職業. The ヘロイン of 操作／手術 Argus left the 軍隊 after the birth of her second child and 再結合させるd in 1995 as an 行政官／管理者. In 2018, retired from the 軍隊 and in her 早期に-60s, she got a phone call from 犠牲者 Support: 'We have you 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d as a 犠牲者 of Ronald Evans, 支援する in '79?'
Michelle explained that she had been a police officer, not a 犠牲者, but she could guess what was coming next. Ronald Evans, now 老年の 77, was to be 解放（する）d from 刑務所，拘置所: 'He walks with a stick, he is very old and infirm. Did you know he's Britain's longest-serving 囚人?' にもかかわらず the passing of time, she wondered how 安全な women really were from him. She was 権利 to wonder. After his 解放（する）, he went on to befriend 攻撃を受けやすい women, 強襲，強姦ing at least one.
Again 解任するd to 刑務所，拘置所, he remains there to this day. Today, 操作／手術 Argus couldn't happen: neither health and safety 指導基準s, nor the 規則 of Investigatory 力／強力にするs 行為／法令／行動する would 許す it. Any of the officers could have been 本気で 害（を与える）d. But somehow, this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 操作／手術 worked ? and all because, on a 雪の降る，雪の多い morning in 1979, a 勇敢に立ち向かう, young police officer was willing to put her own life on the line.
(指名するs of all 強姦 犠牲者s have been changed)
Not enough WPCs so male officers had to dress in drag!?
Rugby player PC Robbie Jones was the only other male officer who stayed the course on 操作／手術 Argus
Chris Gould, one of the male officers, 協議するd a make-up artist he had met a few months 以前: he told her only that he needed to dress as a woman for '操作の 目的s'
To catch the 'Clifton Rapist' WPC Michelle Tighe volunteered to go undercover, to 誘惑する their quarry from the 影をつくる／尾行するs. Only there were not enough women to fill the nightly rota, walking the streets as bait. So Michelle 設立する herself まっただ中に a team consisting of 12 women ? and four men.
The men volunteered to wear drag, and were taught to walk in high heels and 問題／発行するd with women's 着せる／賦与するs by BBC Bristol's wardrobe department. Chris Gould, one of the male officers, 協議するd a make-up artist he had met a few months 以前: he told her only that he needed to dress as a woman for '操作の 目的s'. On his first night on 義務, he left home in a blonde wig and a pair of his wife's sling-支援するs, adjusted to fit. When he （機の）カム downstairs, she did a 二塁打-take: 'Oh, Chris no! Get out. This is so creepy.' But as he left the house he passed a 隣人 who 明確に didn't recognise him, 説 'All 権利, my love?'
? Robert Murphy 2024
Adapted from おとり by Robert Murphy, to be published by HarperNonFiction on April 25 at £9.99. To order a copy for £8.99 (申し込む／申し出 valid to 06/05/24; UK P&P 解放する／自由な on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/調書をとる／予約するs or call 020 3176 2937.
