‘Fear for my daughter’: Mother shares alarming encounter with Linear Park jogger

More women have come forward to describe horrifying encounters with a male jogger on the Linear Park trail – with at least three victims confirming they were intimidated by the same man.

A man has been reported to police for harassing women along Linear Park at Highbury and Athelstone. Picture: Supplied

More women have come forward with disturbing accounts of a man chasing and abusing them in separate incidents through Linear Park at Athelstone and Highbury.

Georgie shared her account with The Advertiser - the latest in a string of incidents involving a male jogger terrifying women along the popular running trail by verbally abusing them, rudely gesturing and behaving physically aggressive towards them.

Georgie, who walks her dog Norbert at the park, first noticed the man running in his underwear around Christmas but said his behaviour has become more aggressive over the past few months, forcing her to change her routine.

“He used to just sort of run past, then he started … yelling,” she said.

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“As the months have gone on, he has started putting up his rude finger as you go past and then he does a bit of a karate chop move towards you.

“But then about three weeks ago my daughter was running by herself without the dog and they passed each other and he yelled at her, gave her the rude finger and just made odd noises.

“She thought that was okay because that’s what he normally does and she kept running.

“But then she could tell he was behind and he had turned around and was chasing her up the hill.”

The man has harassed several women along Linear Park at Highbury and Athelstone - leaving them fearing for their safety.

One victim who has seen him several times said his behaviour is escalating. Picture: Supplied

Georgie said her daughter was a fast runner but the encounter left her fearing for the 21-year-old.

“I’m a lot more cautious and fear for my daughter, who is only 21,” she said.

She said both she and her daughter now avoid the park between 6.30am and 8am.

The Advertiser first reported the horrifying story of another young woman Mikayla encountering a man in April.

The 26-year-old was going for her daily walk along the Linear Park trail at 7am on April 17, when she was intercepted by a man behaving “aggressively”.

She said she first saw the man threatening another woman by “sticking the middle finger in her face”, before he turned around and began to approach her.

He then blocked her path and intimidated her, launching at her but not hitting her.

She said she had “not returned since”.

She said the “terrifying” incident had affected her daily exercise routine and made her think twice about walking or jogging, often choosing the more public gym instead.

It is understood at least four women have reported similar incidents to police.

Georgie first reported the man to police in April after the incident with her daughter but was not given a report number. 

“[Police] said that there was not much they could do if he wasn’t actually touching her or attacking her - he was just being a nuisance,” Georgie said.

“But they gave us the number to call if she felt threatened while she was in the park to ring them and they could send a car straight out.”

Georgie said since reporting the incident in April she had seen a police car parked near the trail in the morning.

She said she had made a second visit to the police on Monday and this time was issued a police report number.

A man has been spotted harassing women along Linear Park at Highbury. Picture: Supplied

Police say they have been patrolling and monitoring the area regularly.

“I just think it wouldn’t be that hard to find him … he’s in the same place every day,” she said.

Police urge anyone who witnesses suspicious or aggressive behaviour to contact their assistance line on 131 444.

On average in Australia, a women has been killed every four days by a man and one in three women have experienced physical violence from a man since the age of 15.

Last week the federal government announced $925m over five years to help women escape violent relationships under a suite of measures to combat high rates of gendered violence.