Sex attack victim 'too traumatised' to speak

The victim of a Christmas Eve sex attack in Auckland is too traumatised to speak to police about the incident.

Police say a man whose Christmas Eve sex attack in inner city Auckland left a woman so deeply shocked she could not speak, may be showing signs of nerves or acting oddly.

Police have appealed to the public for help in tracking down the man after he left his 24-year-old victim too traumatised to tell police what had happened.

The woman was partying with friends and was attacked in Mills Lane after she tried to call a taxi in Albert St about 40 metres away about 2am last Thursday.

She was still too shocked to speak to police, said Detective Senior Sergeant Andy King today.

Mr King said police were still looking at security camera footage, hoping to get details of the attack.

The woman was not in a good emotional state but the longer it went before she was interviewed the more difficult the investigation became, he said.

"She is pretty traumatised.

"We are prepared to sit and wait. It is what we normally do. We normally give them a few days."

Police have a minimal description of the attacker but that would not be released until it had been confirmed by the victim.

Mr King would not give details of the attack or how she got from Albert St to Mills Lane but said there was only one attacker.

Other than the sexual violation the victim was not physically harmed.

He said anyone who saw anything suspicious about 2am on Thursday should call police.

Mills Lane, which runs parallel to Queen St, was also the scene of the fatal stabbing in September 2008 of Austin Hemmings, who went to the aid of a woman calling for help.

- NZPA