Falsely accused of rape in Scotland

[lostafraidandinneedofhelp]

Hello. I am a foreigner and spent 6 months in the UK for a exchange program of my university. One day I went to a pub and met a girl who invited me back to her place, where we had sex. Everything looked normal, she was participative and enthusiastic about the whole thing and in the next morning I gave her my number and left. 3 days later she texted me accusing me of assaulting her. 3 months later I was arrested and take into an interview with the police. The detective was super nice, told me I would be released right after the interview and at all time made it look like the case would not go to court. Everytime he mentioned the development of the case he said "IF this goes to court". At the time I was super ashamed of the accusation and didn't accepted a solicitor because I didn't wanted anybody to know about the situation, what know seems like a horrible mistake.

They took my phone for inspection, but only that and never released me on bail, just a normal release. I told them when I was going back home and they didn't seemed to care, even though my homecountry is famous for not extradicting their citizens. The interview happened almost 6 months ago and I haven't heard anything about it.

The problem is that I am terrified and cannot sleep proprely ever since. Is there anything I have to do? The fact that they released me and took 3 months to interview me points that the case won't go foward? Should I email the detective about the case? Although I think that I will not be arrested, since I never assaulted the girl and never intended to make her feel bad in anyway, I am really afraid of having to go to court.

Even if there is nothing I can do now, i appreciate you reading this post. I haven't told anyone about what happened and I am feeling horrible inside. Being able to share this experience with people in similar situations is really comforting.

[Casehardened]

Hello and welcome to this forum (though sorry that you needed to find us!)

This forum doesn't see much traffic these days, you are the first new member for a while, but hopefully you may get some further replies in a day or so.

You may already be aware that Scottish law and procedures are different to the rest of the UK and in fact there is a thread in the Useful Information section on Scottish Law but unfortunately this hasn't been updated in a while so haven't linked to it.

I am assuming that you told the detective that consensual intercourse had taken place and I understand your reasoning for not accepting a solicitor as I did the same, however if you are 'invited' to a second interview you should definitely seek legal advice (the police will be fair but are not your friends, their job is to try to establish guilt while the lawyer will guard your interests)

Sorry I can't offer any further advice, but wanted to mention that most of the cases on the forum where consent has been withdrawn the next day by the complainant (for all sorts of reasons: shame; regret; boyfriend found out) didn't make it to court.

[lostafraidandinneedofhelp]

Hello, and thank you for the answer. I am glad to see this forum still have people, I was feeling super alone regarding this whole situation!

I don't know how I would be invited for a new interview, since I don't live in the UK anymore. Also, the police never bothered to ask me for my address in my homecountry. This is why I am having second thoughts about contacting them. I just want this whole process to be over.

[Batmother]

Hello Lostandinneed as Casehardened has said, sorry that you have found yourself in need of this forum, but welcome.
My humble opinion would be ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ ie not email or contact the Police. As Casehardened has mentioned they are NOT your friend. Much like a with a Vampire, do not ‘welcome’ them into your life, nothing good will come of it. Absolutely take up the offer of a solicitor/lawyer if this ever arises again, you need some one in your corner over something as hellish as this for sure and that meeting is free of charge too. Only time will help the horrible feelings you have which is understandable, but hopefully over time those feelings will get less frequent and the intensity will abate also. Please always get in touch here when you need to vent or run a thought by any of us if it helps you feel not so alone.

I know I was at breaking point and felt so alone trying to help my Husband after he was falsely accused. The kind replies/advice I got on here stopped me from having a complete meltdown over it. It was a strange comfort to know this site existed but bloody tragic that it is needed at all. From what you have said I would say it seems ‘dead in the water’ and fingers crossed it stays that way. All the best.