May 2022

Epsom ‘predatory’ attacker targeted lone women and girl aged under 16

A ‘predatory’ attacker from Surrey who targeted lone women has been jailed for a decade.

Warren Morton was locked up after admitting three sexual assaults, two common assaults and breaching a Sexual Risk Order.

Morton, 23, from East Street, Epsom, was sentenced on Tuesday (May 14) at Guildford Crown Court. As well as the prison term, he was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The most recent assault occurred on June 30, 2021 while Morton was on bail for assaults he had committed in 2020. A woman in her 20s reported that she had been attacked in a wooded area on Epsom Common close to the Wells Estate.

She was walking along a wooded pathway on the common when Morton attacked her from behind, causing her to fall backwards onto the floor. The woman managed to fight back and free herself.

The woman immediately contacted police and flagged down a dog walker. Morton ran off out of the common and back towards Epsom town centre.

Morton also pleaded guilty to an assault on September 16, 2020, when he approached a woman walking along a street and grabbed her buttock from behind. The woman confronted Morton and he made off.

A short time later, on the same day, Morton approached a girl under the age of 16. She challenged Morton’s behaviour and he fled the location.

In addition, Morton admitted to a further attack on July 28, 2020.

He followed a woman into an alleyway and grabbed her from behind, causing her to fall on her back, before kissing her and making off.