Overview
- Norfolk police charged Madalin Ilinca, 34, with one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault and remanded him in custody after a magistrates’ hearing; a Crown Court plea and trial preparation hearing is set for 6 July.
- Officers detained Ilinca at the Port of Dover when he re-entered the UK after leaving for Romania following the alleged assaults, questioned him at Wymondham police facilities, and then charged him.
- Police were called to South Beach Parade after reports that two teenage girls were sexually assaulted on the sand dunes in the early hours of May 16, and specialist officers have been assigned to support the victims and gather evidence.
- A separate man in his 30s was arrested in Northamptonshire on May 17 and remains on police bail until 10 August while inquiries continue, and officers have appealed for help to locate another suspect believed to be outside the UK.
- Local search and cordon activity covered about 100 yards of dunes behind the Premier Inn, prompting increased patrols and community reassurance efforts as forensic and witness enquiries continue and the criminal case moves to Crown Court.