Teenager, 17, was raped in a doorway after two men befriended her

• A 17-year-old girl was raped outside a popular west London shopping centre
• The teenager was approached by two men who tried to make her drink vodka
• One of the two men, who called himself 'Ahmed', forced her towards the shop 

Police released this CCTV footage of a suspect they want to question in relation to the incident outside a shopping centre 

A teenager was raped in the doorway of a shopping centre after two men tried to force her to drink vodka.

The 17-year-old victim and her friend were approached by two men while they were shopping in Westfield, west London.

After spending some time together, police say the group made their way to central London before returning to Shepherd's Bush Green by bus.

The men - who called themselves 'Mohamed Saif' and 'Ahmed' - tried to make the women drink from a bottle of vodka, but they refused.

The women were split up by the men and 'Ahmed' forced the victim towards an entrance to West 12 Shopping Centre where he raped her at around 3.45am the following morning on October 28 last year.

The two women quickly left the area and made their way home, where they called police. It is not known if the men gave their real names to the two girls.

Now detectives have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the attack.

The suspect is described as 5ft 9ins, of medium build with black spiky hair and he spoke in broken English. He was wearing blue jeans, a dark bomber jacket and light trainers.

Det Con Rebecca Thomas, of the Met's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: 'These two men took advantage of the victim and her friend.

'They lured them both into a false sense of security before trying to ply them with alcohol; which the women refused.

'I would appeal to anyone who recognises the man in the CCTV to contact police.

'I would also like to speak with anyone who saw him in the company of the other man - who called himself Mohamed Saif - and two women over the course of Thursday, October 27 and Friday, October 28.

'The four of them travelled by bus and were in the Haymarket area of Westminster before returning to Shepherd's Bush.'