My husband has been convicted of Rape of which he did not do

[Pinara]

Can anyone give me some advice...

My husband has recently been convicted of rape (4 weeks ago). At the beginning of 2008 he became involved with another woman (having an affair) which continued for 3 months. After a drunken night this woman took my husband back to her house for the night. For the following two weeks she started to accuse my husband of forcing her to give oral sex. They did not have any form of sex that evening and she has admitted that he was not capable of getting an errection, there was kissing, cuddling, heavy petting and a bit of role play. He continually denied forcing her to do anything and was very apologetic for upsetting her. They met up on 3 occasions after that particular evening, sent around 200 text messages each to one another, even went out for lunch. My husband could not deal with the accusations anymore and wanted an end to their relationship so he decided to tell me everything that had happened. As soon as he did this she went to the Police accusing him of rape.

Fifteen months later he has just been to court and found guilty of rape, receiving a sentence of 6 years of which 3 years are to be spent in Prison. There was no evidence, the bottom line was that the Jury were asked who they thought were telling the truth. I sat through the whole case which lasted 7 days and there was no evidence that he raped her.

I have since found out that she has a reputation of telling lies, sleeping around and trying to take men for a ride....

I know my husband was wrong to have an affair, he deserves to be punished but not in this way. He did not do this. I don't believe any man is safe out there. Can anyone give me some advice to try to help my husband and what evidence do I need to take this to appeal.

I am grateful for any advice.

Loving Wife

[frankgallagherwasere]

Pinara welcome to the forum and sincerely sorry to read your post about your husband and families situation. Unfortunately in this country you no longer need to commit a crime to get convicted you just need someone to accuse you and a system hell bent on results and your screwed.

You have a number of options of which I would recommend you get hold of a specialist Solicitor and get the case reviewed as Im sure your current mob will be all too happy to wipe their hands of the case. There are some on here that will Im sure be only too happy to advise you on their thoughts BUT as we know little on the case and especially the defence my suggestion would be to think of fighting back against the system and not letting them think they have won.

Unfortunately as we all know all too well, the belief in the general public is this country is full of so called sex offenders, when in truth MANY convictions have been fabricated and manufactured. Judges haha there often as bent as the Police and accusers as they are all too aware of the tricks the judicial system pulls to gain results.

Stay strong and stay committed, yes your husband was wrong, he should have asked your permission aleast before having his bit of fun, BUT unfortunately his story is all too common - its a dangerous country we all live in !!

[Pinara]

Thank you very much for the advice. We are in the process of requesting the transcript from the Court. It's knowing what to do next which I find difficult. I am not going to give up, he should not be in Prison like many of the others.

[frankgallagherwasere]

You said "we are requesting a copy of the transcript" you usually have to pay for this u know and its NOT CHEAP !! You can just request sentences or extracts and of course once you start an appeal your Solicitor might be able to arrange it for you via legal aid if granted.

My family paid out £6k for a review only to find out afterwards that it was going to cost (quoted in writing) £4,500 for court transcript £10,000 to review and investigate to pre appeal and £7,500 to prepare appeal - but he is a Barrister who has his own private firm and is very good - so he should be for that kind of money. But they spent all my money and now Im in limbo.

So just know exactly where you stand and dont get fobbed off, many Solicitors and Barristers will not persue cases when their colleagues have failed or been incompetent - they close rank around each other !! I have known some Barristers undertake an appeal when they lost a case in court BUT IT IS VERY RARE, usually they make the excuse "you need new evidence". There are plenty Im sure who will happily take money off you with the promise of appeal and deliver nothing. Your not just fighting the accuser, your fighting the system too.

I aint gonna make this post long cos it will just get boring and others Im sure will have plenty to say either on the board or in private. But I advise you to take time out and talk to a few of us before jumping into bed with anyone ITS a critical decision and one you MUST try your best to get right.

But there are PLENTY of us who are in your position or who have been there before some more recent than others so we all UNDERSTAND and yes there are MANY MANY innocent people (thousands) convicted just like your husband - its a sham this country pulls with the medias support and it has to be stopped and exposed - just no one listens or is interested and that has to change !!

[Pinara]

Thank you. It is a price we have requested in the first instance and it is taking ages to materialise. I will take your advice and firstly try to find a new solicitor who specialises in this area.

Many thanks

[frankgallagherwasere]

Having a Solicitor in your own area is not always the best option - after all they know each other !! As I said before one of the problems we all face fighting injustice is trying to get the judicial to accept their own failures.

My advice would be to hold off on the transcript for now and focus your efforts into arranging your defence. A mistake many of us made was to just assume a reputable Solicitors practise would be trustworthy only to find out there as bent as Arthur Daley. These cases sure confirm the old sayings about never trust a lawyer, however there are a HANDFULL of good ones, the problem being most charge the earth for their services.

One of the things you could do is to try and find people who have won their trial or appeal who live in your area and whom their representatives were, all good and well in hindsight, but in these cases we can all only learn from the mistakes we make, except for many of us the only mistake was to trust British justice - the worst mistake anyone could make as we found to our cost freedom and often safety.

A case review isnt just about the accusers evidence its about the whole conduct of the case from the Police investigation to the conduct of the CRown incourt and whether they followed the procedures or as so often is the case bent them to suit their own objectives. Also whether your own defence also used what evidence the had properly, many dont.

Some would argue that it could have been pure incompetence and inexperience from your defence, the truth is it was probably nothing short of pure collusion with the Crown and a share of the spoils - financial benefits. The judicial use many dirty tricks to get results and often simply because they can as you cant touch them when they do - there above the law, or atleast thats how it feels and looks cos no one dare critisise their corruption.

If you think and feel your defence wasnt honest with you, you must complain to the Law Society and your MP and start kicking off, sitting back only lets them all off and means others will suffer too at their expense - similarly if the Police hid critical evidence or didnt investigate properly get onto the IPCC and make it known they perverted the course of justice by stitching your husband up.

I dont want to sound negative, but really your fight is not going to be easy and any evidence and confirmation against the crown will help you in the future - you have to fight sometimes fire with fire. Keep strong

[Saffron]

Hi Pinara and welcome.

I'm so sorry to hear what has happened to you and your husband. No-one is in a position to judge his actions/infidelity except you, and you have chosen to forgive him. I applaud you, and completely understand your situation, having been in a very similar one myself.

FG is right, you need to get a specialist sol on board. Unfortunately, until you have the trial transcripts, no-one will be able to say whether there are possible grounds for appeal, and as you know, getting the transcripts is expensive. I also recommend getting your MP involved (if s/he is willing).

In the meantime, you can do certain things to make your husband's life Inside as comfortable as possible. You may have already done these things, so if I am teaching you to suck eggs, forgive me!

Most prisons have a newsagent that supplies papers to the inmates. You can pay in advance for your Hubby to receive a paper every day; Sunday papers (with the telly guides in them) are also useful "currency".

You can send him money to spend in the prison canteen, and you should also be able to send him stamps. The rules vary from prison to prison, but you can always phone them to check. You may be able to take clothes and CDs for him when you visit, but again rules vary so please check.

You can also set up a Call Divert system from your home phone to your mobile. If you ring your line provider and explain that you want to set up a call divert, they will give you a code to tap into your home phone whenever you leave the house. You can divert your home phone to any number you like - the caller pays for the cost of the call to your landline, and you are billed for the cost of diverting that call to your mobile. This means your hubby will not waste his phone credit on expensive calls to mobiles, and he will be able to get hold of you wherever you are.

As for yourself, you are eligible for Council Tax relief, and may be also eligible for other benefits/tax breaks. Talk to your local CAB, they are generally very non-judgemental and helpful.

When my hubby was away, I took photos of every room in our house, and of the garden, and sent them to him so that he could hold the images in his head. I also kept a kind of "diary" writing to him every day - sometimes silly things, like "Charlie the Cat ate a mouse really noisily today" and sometimes emotional things, song lyrics and poems. I would post these "diaries" every 3 days.

Make sure you look after yourself. Your husband has been through a terrible ordeal, but so have you. I am sending you cyber hugs.

Saffron x

[frankgallagherwasere]

Inside isnt as bad as they say, it just takes a little time to adjust (about 3 months in my case), the anger and emotions might never go away, Im over 2 years from the trial and Im sure many on here would say Ive still got an issue (BIG ISSUE) with my views thoughts and feelings towards the way the system and state treated my case, and many cases for that matter.

Its a case of asking if u dont know dont be afraid what the subject is cos we have probably been there ourselves and some of it isnt nice I know. generally most of us are or try to be friendly and even call each other when one gets seriously low and Im sure everyone has bad and good days especially at the beginning.

Sometimes its true that those left on the outside have the hardest part as they have to try and keep things together and going and not live in a world where everything is done for you, like inside is.

The one thing I found was people didnt listen to what I wanted them to do, even silly things after all he isnt there to do it himself. You have to understand his hands are tied and your his only contact, boy has he got some making up to do !!

Sometimes you have to make big and brave decisions, you have 3 years to survive and so plan them wisely. Never assume anything good just HOPE !!

[Pinara]

Thanks both of your for your help, every little thing helps. If anyone can reccommend a solicitor or barrister who has achieved results in similar circumstances please let me know. It is comforting (although sickened) to hear that other people are in exactly the same situation.

Thanks xx

[frankgallagherwasere]

First off where are u, which part of the country, where is hubby currently I assume still in local dispersement . Be warned there are not many whom we trust, and that includes those amongst us, as Im sure you've already noticed there are also few forums and of them like this few active contributing members. Too many give up and give in and allow the system to win - and there are some whom think the system will almost always win.

Saffron can better help you on most of the things as Im barred from the masters board, I complain and question things too much !! Just dont buy into anything without first evaluating ALL your options. Having found this board you will find others dont worry they are out there just not here - however we all have to have confidence first with each other,

I assume hubby didnt get IPP therefore the sentence is not over excessive, an appeal against sentence is then not an issue nor priority !!

My first piece of advice DO NOT fall out with your current Solicitor, the Barrister fine cos you dont need THEM anymore, but you will your Solicitor, and dont transfer to another until you know everything is in order. I would tell your current Solicitor you want to change Barristers and appoint a QC from outside the area to present your appeal, after all isnt everyone entitled to an appeal? Thats what the government keep telling us - not true of course. Notice I didnt say whom, just ask your Solicitor to suggest only at this stage. I WOULD PUT THIS IN WRITING TO THEM - cos from now on you need everything in writing from anyone - its all evidence on your side.

The more work you do on case summary the better in control you will be at making sure your case is being handled properly and professionally. Dont believe everything your told !! especially from the judicial - actually almost NEVER believe them !! Your current objective is to win the right to appeal nothing else, and that alone is a mountain to climb and some distance off. But you've already make progress by joining us on here.

But all you should do for now is ask lots of questions to everyone and that being WHY HAS THIS BEEN ALLOWED TO HAPPEN and WHY US !!

If you attended the trial then the transcripts will not tell you anything you didn't already know just cost and your really not ready for them YET !! They cost £125 plus VAT for every hour of the trial, which is useless cos they pussy foot about half the time in court. And your Solicitor can answer MOST of the questions anyway - they were there too (if you were lucky most use a junior member !!

The first stage of any review is to first compare the evidence available (original statements made) against that presented in court (transcripts) - this would confirm any collusion and discrepancies and then one can try and pick out the irregularities of the evidence presented to the jury for them to make a decision. Requiring new evidence isn't always true, cos the evidence might already be there just not used properly. Then one has to pick out the proven against the hearsay - accusations and try and understand what evidence was abused. Yes a Solicitor should already have done that - most don't !! But then most don't do a good job anyway so you end up having to do that for them.

You are dealing with the Law of procedure CPS.gov.org I think it was, so what you have to do is prove it was abused, then you can move forwards. It helps I think if you better understand the system and where it failed you, after all its only you and hubby that know the answers - the truth.

[Pinara]

Thank you. We are from Cambridgeshire. My husband is currently in Peterborough but has requested a transfer to a Cat C prison.

I was at the trial from start to finish also with his father. We have not had the cost for the transcript - £4200. We will hold fire on this at the moment until it is requested. If it will help in any way we will not hesitate to purchase.

I will reseach into cases that have successfully gone to appeal to seek a barrister. It is difficult to know who to believe, when the solicitor tells you "we have got you one of the best barristers". I suppose it is someone with experience in this field...

I am not intending to give up, this whole system is wrong and the public etc need to be aware how peoples lives are being destroyed.

Thanks for your advice

[downtrodden]

I was told I had one of the best barristers, but still ended up being convicted and having a custodial sentence.

I would suggest you try and find out as much information on this person as you can - previous victims of her lies etc to build a profile which you can submit to the legal team. It may not be admissible but it would give them avenues to explore.

If you appeal, I believe the trial transcripts can be applied for by the new legal team.

[frankgallagherwasere]

The one advantage (if one could call it that) is that now you have had your trial the Crown have shown all their cards and you know what tricks they pulled or evidence they twisted and misused - assuming that to be the case. Also shows where any collusion came in to play between crown and defence again assuming some did.

I dont think in many cases one can find out anything else that worthy of being presented for appeal in the first instance other than the abuse of procedure. Where evidence wasnt made availabel that down to whether CPS should have pushed the Police to find it !! TOO little is made of abuse of procedure and I firmly believe that this should be the first line of attack, building up a picture of judicial malpractise in their efforts to play along to the Home Office game.

Any further evidence is always nice, BUT in many cases it simply isnt there to be got. Therefore the best defence is to go for the twisting and abuse of the evidence what was used and used incorrectly by crown and defence. Ot where the Police and CPS smothered over and cover up evidence that wasnt presented or could have been sought.

[frankgallagherwasere]

Pinara

Cambridge is a lovely part of the country and your local VP cat C is I believe Little Hey I even know a couple of the lads there, So it comes recommended by others I know whom have spent time there - must have been good for them to have requested a transfer back there !!

[Rights Fighter]

Trial transcripts can be obtained by public funding providing the inmate is eligible to claim it and there is a good enough argument to to persuade LS to provide the money. Usually it is not necessary to get the whole lot but the JSU (Judge's Summing Up) can be vital to an appeal.