Jenna Pike was 16 when a man approached her from behind, attacked her and squeezed her throat until she started to black out.

Nine years later, advances in DNA technology have linked her attack to two others.

The man went on to sexually assault one woman and rape another in 2015.

Ms Pike has waived her anonymity in a bid to help trace the man responsible for the attacks.

She told BBC Scotland she was coming home from a party in the early hours of 28 October 2012 when she heard someone behind her.

'Blacking out'

She said: "It was the road I walk home all the time. I became aware of a man about six feet behind me.

"Thinking I was just blocking the road, I stepped aside and I guess I ruined his plan to surprise me.

"The next thing I knew he had spun me round, pulled me to the ground and put his hands around my throat trapping my arms and my hands so I couldn't pull him off me and started putting pressure on my neck to the point where I was blacking out."

She was not sexually assaulted but since then has been unable to walk alone day or night. No one has ever been charged for the crime.

Now in her 20s, she considers herself "lucky" her attacker suddenly stopped and ran off.

Jenna pike wants other women to come forward if the same thing has happened to them or they know any man who fits the description

Earlier this year, police in the capital made social media appeals for information as part of a renewed investigation into the 2015 incidents.

A 21-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in Craiglockhart Quadrant on 5 August that year and, just over three weeks later, a 19-year-old woman was raped in the Newmills Road area.

Jenna Pike was attacked in Colinton Road. All three are in the south-west of Edinburgh.

After seeing the appeals, Ms Pike contacted police.

She said: "I read it and just thought this area is similar, the situation with it being a lone female and then one male and I thought the age and description was so similar and I thought I might waste someone's time - but I might not.

"It turned out they hadn't made that connection and it subsequently was the same male who had committed a further two assaults."

In the wake of the sentencing of Sarah Everard's killer, Wayne Couzens and public anger surrounding her murder, Ms Pike is asking women to come forward if they have experienced similar attacks in a bid to trace her attacker.

'Late-night walks'

"I want to encourage anybody else who has been in a similar situation to phone in, check and make sure it isn't the same person. If you didn't report it then, report it now," she said.

"It helps us get an understanding of what this guy's been up to. Two-and-a-bit years is a long time to not have done anything and it makes me really concerned whether he has gone on to do more. Because it is definitely an escalation from what happened to me to his last attack."

She is concerned that other women could also have been victims of his who have not come forward.

She said: "I wasn't affected as badly as the other two women. I guess I will never know if that was his end goal or whether he was just seeing how far he could push a human but I was let go of, he let me go and he walked back up the road like nothing had happened."

She made this appeal: "Maybe there's a niggle in the back of your mind, someone has said something to you at some point that didn't quite click then, but is making you think about it now. Maybe a family member you know wasn't always around in the middle of the night as he seemed to enjoy a late-night walk and just women in general if something has happened to you whether you think it's related to this or not, report it now.

"It makes me annoyed more so that he has lived his life scot-free. He is not worried. It makes me concerned that he could be in a relationship, he could have a child even. He is capable of anything.

Detectives have a full DNA profile of the suspect thanks to more sensitive testing systems and the ability to test smaller amounts of material. Samples taken at the time were retested and the 2012 attack was linked to the two three years later. His profile has not been matched on any databases so far.

Det Insp Jon Pleasance, the investigating officer for the renewed inquiries, said: "I want to sincerely thank Jenna for bravely speaking out.

"Using advanced DNA technology we've been able to review the forensics from Jenna's case and determine that these attacks are all linked.

"It's incredibly concerning that the man responsible was targeting lone women as far back as 2012, especially given what we know now.

"It leads me to believe, due the proximity of these incidents, that the answer may very well lie in the local community.

"Anyone who can help is strongly asked to come forward, no matter how small the information or their concerns may seem. We have the ability to very quickly rule people out of our investigation."

Those with information can contact Police Scotland or pass tips anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.