Reassurance needed

[bumblebea]

a member of my family has been accused of rape. Sex did take place and I beleive him when he says it was consenual. they both had too much to drink. He is on police bail.

We are all in pieces, trying to stay strong but holidays are not a good time to try and sort what we need to do.

Anyway I have a couple of questions at this time and will probably have many more as I think it will be a long haul.

How long will they keep his phone and clothes?
Where can I find details of a solicitor that specialises in defending those wrongly accused? the duty solictor that he saw in the station was good but how can I find out if he is the right person?

The police dont seem to be eager to take statements from any one else. Is that normal, it seems from reading this that you have to really follow stuff up. I am told that it is best for a solicitor to do that? would appreciate your experience.

Are there any support groups for people in his position?
What will happen about his job. Can he be suspended, should he tell work what is going on. He works for a corporate.

Im sorry if im rambling but this is going in to the unknown and its very scarry

[just gets worse and worse]

hey am in a siimular situation my self as your family member

the police do dilly dally about i dont know how long they will keep his thing because my wern't taken off me. but i have been suspended from work and it aint good but my work colleuges were all out on the same night out.

i can give you the name off a solictor in leeds who is dealing with my case and seems to know what he is doing but he wont be able to do alot till it nears his bail renewal time or he has been charged thats what he told me.
i have to go back on the 13 of febuary so he said if we dont hear anything till towards the end of january he will start to ring round the people who are dealing with it (eg the police inspector and the cps) and see what they think is going to happen

dont know where i can give name and number might be privat message facillity some where new to site as well

keep your chins up and think possative .

[quinnb]

How long will they keep his phone and clothes?

Answer - as long as they want to basically? It takes several months to go through a phone.

Where can I find details of a solicitor that specialises in defending those wrongly accused? the duty solictor that he saw in the station was good but how can I find out if he is the right person?Rights Fighter is the expert on that question.

The police dont seem to be eager to take statements from any one else. Is that normal, it seems from reading this that you have to really follow stuff up. I am told that it is best for a solicitor to do that? would appreciate your experience.

Thats cuz they are **** basically and can't be arsed to do any work half the time - let me think surfing the net and drinking tea or doing some real work - hmmm!

Are there any support groups for people in his position?
What will happen about his job. Can he be suspended, should he tell work what is going on. He works for a corporate.

In my experience (I work for a corporate to) I was not suspended - shame really 4 months off with pay would have been great but they told me innocent until proven guilty. I only had to tell them as I got nicked when I should have been at work. It also helped my boss was very supportive and when I told him the story pretty much laughed, (The only people who took that entire tissue of lies serioursly were the police)

If he works for a corporate they must have some kind of employee assistance program - get him to ring them they will have a better idea of how the company operates etc - it can be done entirely anoymously if he wants.

[Rights Fighter]

Bumblebea - in my experience there are police officers who will do what they can to get a conviction and they will bend the rules to suit themselves.

If your family member has witnesses then he MUST get them to write down their own recollection of events.

Some corrupt officers will do one of two things:

1) They will ignore the witnesses (and any helpful evidence that can assist the suspect)

2) They will interview the witnesses and then (wrongly) tell them that they are now witnesses for prosecution and that they cannot talk to anybody from the defence side.

There is a saying "there is no property in a witness". If no 2 happens then make damn sure they get to your family member's solicitor, if he is charged.

If he IS charged please PM me the whereabouts of the accused and I will see if I can find somebody who can do the job properly.

Not all police officers are corrupt of course. But some are so unfortunately you have to assume that these will be unless they prove themselves otherwise.

[bumblebea]

How did you find your solicitor? Was it someone who was recommended.

You said he wont do much till nearer your bail time. I have been told by an advice line that solicitor should start preparing stuff before then, ie speaking to any witnesses. Is confusing?.

Thanks for your help.

[just gets worse and worse]

i found my solicitor through a freind who works for the same company as a family solicitor and she asked about the firm which is a very big firm by all accounts and she came back with three names and said they were the ones to talk to and some of the best in their area.i dont live any where near leeds but htey will still take my case.

[Rights Fighter]

I run an online support group for those who have been accused/charged convicted and their families. I only recommend solicitors who have done the job correctly for my members.

Please do not post up the accused's whereabouts in the UK as the police have been known to frequent this forum, possibly to "update their intelligence" - no jokes please!!!!

[bumblebea]

Rights fighter - I will PM you seperately.

[bumblebea]

Thank you Rights Fighter for your information. I think the shock is setting in with all of us today. We all seem to be bursting in to tears. Trying to keep it all together.

Thank you all.

[Rights Fighter]

You might think "fine to time to do this right at Christmas / New Year".

I seem to find more people falsely accused of sexual offences at this time of year than any other - possibly because the accusers are sad people who are desperate for attention when others have families around them.

I have PMd you.

[quinnb]

I seem to find more people falsely accused of sexual offences at this time of year than any other - possibly because the accusers are sad people who are desperate for attention when others have families around them.

Could it also be R/F that this is the time of the year when most booze is consumed! - Is it not a fact that the majority of rapes/sexual assaults happen when drink is involved - so the % of false allegations must rise as a proportion of the genuine assualts rise.

[friday]

i agree with the that ^

not sure if the number of allegations rise at this time of year but i would suspect both real rapes and false allegations would rise as opportunistic rapists would have more chance of finding someone in a state which they have little ability to fight back as a result of alcohol and therefore false accusers could latch on to this and say they were taken advantage of when drunk. of course if the false allegations do not include alcohol then i guess that rf explanation could well be valid.

[Rights Fighter]

When I referred to Christmas/New Year I was actually talking about non-alcohol related false allegations. We tend to get more people looking for support, who have been accused of child sex offences, around Christmas and New Year - these would also include people making historic allegations.

Looking into the background of such cases the accusers at such times are usually either on their own or with few friends / family around them. It happens every year.

Those who are making recent allegations are usually teenagers or young adults who don't have much to look forward to during the festive season or who are not looking forward to it, and making allegations guarantees them lots of attention.

I know it sounds unlikely but that is how it seems to happen.

[friday]

i guess if you are going to accuse someone you try to make it as realistic as possible. Given that police ask why you chose to report so long after the event and often why on that particular day/time of year etc it would make sense that xmas and birthdays are the most memorable times spent with family and friends and therefore this may be a time when real victims choose to report (as it brings back memories of family/friends including abusers). A false accuser may well utilise this trend in victim reporting to jump on the bandwagon (so to speak) and seem less conspicuous.

i think i've lost the plot. now trying to fathom the minds of criminals. i think the fact i am at a loss is probably a very good sign.