These are the faces of the “terror” suspects police are hunting over the attempted kidnapping of a serviceman at RAF Marham, in Norfolk, a week ago today.
The victim managed to fight off his attackers who it was feared were planning a Lee Rigby-style terrorism attack. Rigby was murdered outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, in May 2013.
Norfolk police on Wednesday released e-fit images of the two suspects to mark the one-week anniversary of the incident, and as they carried out enquiries near the crime scene and around the village.
The suspects, both described as looking Middle Eastern, remain at large and their vehicle has not yet been located.
The first suspect (pictured above left) is believed to be 6ft tall and of athletic but stocky build with dark hair, which was long on top. He had a well-groomed beard, dark skin and was aged between 20-30 years old. He wore casual clothing.
The second man was described as being in the same age range as the other suspect, but was thought to be younger. He was also slightly shorter, at 5ft 10, was clean shaven, had short dark hair and wore a white t-shirt and dark shorts.
Detective Superintendent Paul Durham, from the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation, urged anyone who recognises either suspect to contact police immediately.
While the victim only witnessed two people during the incident, officers have said it is possible there was at least one other person in the vehicle.
Durham added: “We know that our victim is a member of RAF personnel and we are still investigating how much relevance this was to his attempted abduction.
“It is probable that there would have been a degree of planning involved and in order to achieve this, it is quite possible that there was at least one other person involved.”
On Wednesday afternoon officers carried out witness appeals in Marham, seeking information from anyone who was in the area last week “who may have seen anything unusual and seen the suspects or their vehicle”.
Durham said: “We’ve carried out extensive enquiries in the area but the purpose of these anniversary checks is to speak with people who regularly use roads in the area as part of a route to work or in their social life who we haven’t necessarily captured as part of our house to house enquiries.
“We know from CCTV enquiries that this road, despite being rural, is well used, so it’s possible someone may have seen the dark coloured people carrier either being driven by the suspects or parked up in the area on that day.”
The victim, a man in his late 20s, was out running between 2.45pm and 3.26pm on July 20 when he was approached by the suspect with a beard. The man then grabbed him by the shoulder and wrist before pulling him towards the vehicle.
The victim managed to fight off his attacker, head-butting and punching him, which is likely to have caused visible facial injuries, police said.
The suspect was knocked to the floor and it was at this point that his co-offender, who was armed with a knife, appeared and went to the aid of his accomplice. This allowed the victim to run away and get help.