Two Brisbane men have been arrested over the savage rape of a 20-year-old woman near the Brisbane Sky Needle in Manning Street, South Brisbane, more than five years ago.
Detectives on Wednesday charged a 24-year-old man from Auchenflower with three charges of rape, two charges of sexual assault and deprivation of liberty. A 32-year-old man from Ashgrove was also arrested in northern New South Wales and was expected to be charged with three charges of rape, two charges of sexual assault and deprivation of liberty.
The arrests follow a recent review by Queensland's Sex Crimes Unit of the rape.
Police said the 32-year-old Ashgrove man was arrested in northern New South Wales earlier on Wednesday morning and would be extradited back to Queensland to face charges.
"He will appear in Lismore Magistrates Court tomorrow (Thursday)," State Crime detective Inspector Garry Watts told reporters on Wednesday.
"Detectives from Queensland are on their way to Lismore to take up with the New South Wales counterparts," he said.
"They will be attending Lismore Magistrates Court tomorrow morning to make application for that man's extradition to Brisbane." he said.
Both men were accused of raping a woman near Manning Street in South Brisbane on April 15, 2011, after she left the West End Uber nightclub that night.
Detective Inspector Watts declined to elaborate on the relationship or friendship between the two men.
"I can say that they were known to each other, but I am limited on any more information I can say," the detective said.
Detectives had called for more public information last week to help them solve the rape after Queensland's Sex Crimes Unit examined the cold case.
"I would like to say that not once was this case put in a box and labelled 'too hard'," he said.
"Investigators both within the Brisbane region and more recently, the Sex Crimes Unit, worked diligently to get to the result we have today."
He made a point of thanking the public for their help in providing information on the sexual assault.
"We received a large amount of information and that information has led us to the result we have achieved today," he said.
About 9am on Wednesday, police attended an Annerley address and took a 24-year-old Auchenflower man into custody.
The Auchenflower man will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Police say a woman was walking along Manning Street after leaving a nearby venue about 11.30pm on April 15, 2011.
Two men allegedly followed the woman for a short time before forcing her into a lane and assaulting her. She sustained very serious injuries.
Detective Inspector Garry Watts acknowledged the "hard work" by investigators during the five-year investigation and the information provided by the public.
"We have received a lot of information from the public, both recently and back in 2011," Detective Inspector Watts said.
"I can't go into the specifics of the information that has been received, but as I said, I would like to acknowledge the information that we received from the public."
Police released a re-enactment video last week of the alleged path taken by the victim.
Detective Inspector Watts declined to say whether the two men had been questioned previously by detectives.
He said the victim had been told of the arrests on Wednesday morning.
"She expressed relief that the two offenders had been caught and are now currently before the courts," he said.
"She did express her thanks to the police for their efforts in this investigation."