Falsely Accused of Rape

[Shatteredhusband]

I am far from an expert in this area but it seems that it would be difficult for the CPS to bring this to court when reported by a third party and without even a statement from the alleged victim.

Do you know why this third party would report this false allegation?

Obviously it will be your decision and you will understand your family dynamics better than anyone her, but I do wonder if you would be better telling your parents. You are innocent and they will likely be extremely supportive and help you to get through this. It would be particularly awful if they somehow found out via another route.

Keep strong and keep going. What you describe in relation to your case sounds more positive.
SH

[RFLH]

I'm with SH on this - please tell your parents, you really do need them at the moment and they would be so hurt if they think that you couldn't tell them.

[Rights Fighter]

I am far from an expert in this area but it seems that it would be difficult for the CPS to bring this to court when reported by a third party and without even a statement from the alleged victim.

Do you know why this third party would report this false allegation?


SH

Unfortunately cases have proceeded without a complaint from the alleged victim on the word of some (possibly) well-meaning third party. The last I heard about this was about three years ago so I'm hoping that has been stopped - an appeal against conviction succeeded when a mentally ill woman reported a young boy being buggered next door to her and the guy ended up being convicted.

[the advocate]

Zed

Yes, I was accused of serial rape by my wife, and was cleared by the police. I don't want to say too much on here as the family law stuff is still ongoing, and she's continuing to be vindictive and try to do whatever she can to cause upset. I have had a few minor triumphs along the way, but I suspect that if I mentioned them on here it would easily identify me to someone from the other side. Having been accused of this disgusting behaviour, and then treated in a way that some may regard as legal persecution, I think that I'm quite entitled to be paranoid! Once everything is over, I'll post details but I hope that I'll be forgiven in the interim. (there is a private forum, I understand, but I haven't been invited ! Story of my life!)

I'm not in the legal profession but have had extensive dealings with laws and regulations over the years, as well as with many lawyers.

as regards 'your' offence being reported by a third party, again, as part of your defence you have to think of their motive in reporting it. Also, your wife has to come off the fence as regards the accusations - either she fully supports you and denies the allegations, or she is giving support to the allegations. It would not be unknown for someone to get a third party to do their dirty work for them, and then to either put the boot in later, or deny responsibility for the other person's actions, depending on how the wind blows later.

Because of the seriousness of all this, my view is that if your wife is not 100% behind you you have to treat her as hostile, and act as though she had made the accusations.

I wouldn't worry about the significance of the police taking a long time to come to a decision. They will be looking for evidence to support the allegations, but will be prioritising their own workload as to the important and non important. If they believe that no offence was committed, they still have to go through the phases, but they will probably be prioritising taking some dangerous individual off the streets. Hence delays with you, unfortunately.

And do take time to write down as much as you can remember, when you remember it. The more times her story has to change, the less credible it becomes.

I'd also agree to tell your parents. You don't have to give a graphic description initially, but at least let them know whats going on. You can say more later.

Keep going!

[Zed]

Hello everyone,

Advocate - really sorry to hear about your incident - hope all works out for you.

Last few days have been full of ups and down. My duty solicitor (at the station), turned out to be a 'free agent', a freelancer, who takes over when the duty solicitor is busy dealing with another incident.

I have been in touch with the solicitor who is looking after my case & he is always busy. Have spoken to him twice, but mainly the preferred method of conversation is text...............?

I need to get my bail conditions changed & my solicitor is trying this for me. it turns out that the police officer at the interview passed the case on to another officer, who has since left & another police officer is now dealing with the case.

Why did the police officer who knew he was leaving the department mention this to my solicitor? This is such a nightmare - back to square one. Is this normal that the police officer pass cases to each other?

I miss my children and it hurts real bad. Sometimes, I feel like breaking my bail conditions and just turn up to see them......................... but I cannot, as I know this will land me in more trouble.

Should I get another solicitor. God, I just do not know what to do or where to turn to? I don't know which solicitor to go for or how to find one..........aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I miss everything, especially the routine at home. Waking my kids up for school, getting them dressed, chatting with them and just being dad most of all. God knows what my wife has filled their little brains with.

Today has been a really bad day. Sometimes, I even feel like speaking to my wife and begging her to drop the false allegations, and try to work things out for the kids sake.

It really, really hurts. Don't feel like going to work anymore, but I have to, got to many meetings planned in all week. Not prepared for any of them!!!!

Chin up Zed..............life goes on.

[Shatteredhusband]

Zed,

The emotions which you are describing are all too familiar. I too went through the I wish I could just get back to my previous life. In the end I just had to accept that my wife has made these allegations and there is no way back to that previous existence.

No matter how tempting it may bem you must never break the bail conditions. The consequences will be terrible. My OIC told me of several similar cases to mine where the initial allegation was NFA'd but individuals were prosecuted for witness intimidation or breaching their bail conditions. Definitely do not ask your wife to drop the allegations, that would still be interfering with a witness.

The problem with your sol is that they are only paid for the time spent in the police station at this stage. So unless you were charged with an offence they will be less happy to do much as they are not being paid. If you can afford it I would consider engaging a sol privately. It could very well be money well spent. You could google FASO and they may be able to recommend a sol in your area or alternatively you could try contacting Chris Saltrese. He is based in Southport and has a fantastic reputation dealing specifically with false allegations of this nature.

I know it is difficult but things will clear a bit with time. You need to stay strong and keep doing the right things. Please don't give into your impulses to speak to your wife or try to see your children.

Best wishes
SH

[Rights Fighter]

Also there is no paperwork to be had prior to charge so the solicitor would only be able to advise you on what you tell him/her. This can often lead to misinformation being advised on as you won't know what is going on behind the scenes re police and accuser.

Solicitor Chris works nationally and although he is in the NW I am down south and liaise with clients down here. Being a small practice he can no longer work with public funding in trials (although he does with appeals against convictions).

Never, ever make contact with "the other side" as SH says, this can lead to your bail being stopped and you being prosecuted and you could end up in far worse trouble for interfering with a witness, attempting to pervert the course of justice etc.

[LS]

RF's right. Put a foot wrong while on bail and it can be withdrawn and you get remanded to custody, which makes preparing for any trial really difficult.

At least while you're out, you can gather evidence, put together a defence, and have the support of friends and family. Once inside, all of that becomes harder to achieve than people realise, as even the simplest things to do are at best extremely slow, and at worst, impossible.

[Saffron]

Zed, I have some understanding of how you feel. When me and R were going through this, I wanted to turn up at "her" office and demand to know why she was doing this to us. It was a very powerful urge!
It must be even stronger for you because your children are involved.
However, please please don't give in to this feeling. It will make things a million times worse. As LS says, your bail conditions would be revoked and you would be remanded. It's very difficult to prepare a defence with limited access to telephones, email and personal contact with those who support you.
Stay strong. Thinking of you.

[Zed]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your words of advise and support.

Update - my wife has tried to ring me. I never answered the calls. She left two voice-mail messages. It seems she does not want to go through with this, but the police are putting pressure on her to make a statement.

I Have not mentioned to the duty solicitor dealing with my case yet, but the messages are on my phone.

I also went to see a criminal solicitor, he advised me that as no statement was made at the time of arrest, he would have demanded the police to release me (if he was my duty solicitor) immediately & no interview would have been allowed to take place. Is this true?

The police kept me in overnight and I was interviewed (with a duty solicitor present) the next day.

Still waiting for my solicitor to get my bail conditions changed so I can make a visit to the house to collect my belongings. I did ask the solicitor dealing with case, If I would able to leave gifts for my children (the bail conditions state no direct/Indirect contact with the wife). He stated that was fine & would be no problem.

When I was trying to get my bail conditions changed myself by dealing with the police direct, they mentioned that I cannot take any gifts for my children as this would be categorised as 'indirect' contact ?????????????

Having had dealings with the police and the law. It seems no one has a clue and everyone has a different opinion. Extremely frustrating from my point of view.

Anyway, will keep you all updated as things progress. Once again, thank you so much for your advise and support.

Kind regards

[LS]

My advice would be to record those voicemails especially if they are on your house phone.

With BT 1571 will usually be where you retrieve them from, and usually the female voice will state what date and time they were received before playing them.

If on a mobile, get them recorded onto something else, even a voice recorder, as I've lost important voicemails thinking/relying on the phone company to store them. They get deleted after a week or so.

And yes, get this info to your sol, as she could be trying to get your bail revoked by contacting you.

[Rights Fighter]

Some telephone providers delete voicemail messages after a certain amount of time so you'll need to check that with yours.

Good advice LS

[LS]

Fank yoo. I'm trying, very trying!

[Zed]

Morning all

Great news about Oldjoe - absolutely fantastic........

My bail date is on Wed 13th. Not heard anything. My solicitor is so slow, he is still trying to get my bail conditions changed (3 weeks & no reply). Have chased him up on a number of occasions - but he is always busy & states that he has requested this.

Will contact him again tomorrow and also ask if he will be at the police station when I turn up for bail.

Been busy with work and not thought about this much - wish me all the best - same outcome as oldjoe - i hope

kind regards

[Shatteredhusband]

Zed hope Wednesday goes well and you can start to get on with your life.

Best wishes
SH