A series of sex attacks in Athlone that reached a peak 12 months ago remains under investigation but as the culprit has not struck again, it is feared he may have relocated.

Gardaí in Athlone are continuously liaising with Interpol and Europol to determine if a sex offender with similar characteristics has struck elsewhere.

"The investigation is still live. Voluntary DNA swabbing is continuing when necessary. There were 2,000 lines of enquiries open­ed in total; a lot of them have now been closed off. We are continuously scanning the wider environment with Interpol and Europol..." said superintendent Aidan Glacken.

Five attacks on women walking alone at night and in the early hours of the morning occurred in Athlone over 13 months, with the two most recent of these taking place in September 2008.

Gardaí have had no major breakthrough in the investigation since issuing a photofit of the attacker – a male between 5ft 8in and 5ft 10in tall, of slim, athletic build with distinctively large or deep-set eyes – last September.

There were certain similarities between each of the attacks, which were sexual and violent. In each case, a woman on her own was attacked from behind. The first four took place in the Bonnavalley Bridge area; the last was in Hallsbridge.

Detectives enlisted a behaviour analyst and psychological and geographical profilers. They also photographed over 700 men to eliminate them from the inquiry and took up to 600 DNA samples.