Update and help needed - false accusation of gay rape

[windmill]

I posted on here for the first time in January when I was arrested for an alleged gay rape which was meant to happen in 2003 - the guy also said he was underage in 2003 - even though he told me he was legal age, and looked it. (I was 35 at the time)

I am on bail until July.

Since then I have been arrested 2 further times both on redicuolous charged - 1. Interferring with a witness and 2. Attempted kidnap!

Apparently the accuser has had his house set on fire 3 times - twice before I was arrested and a third time more recently and they arrested me on suspicion of doign this (Despite not even knowing where he lives or that he had accused me wenn the first 2 incidents occured)

The second relates to an incident 2 years ago when I saw a strange guy next to a busy road and round-a-bout - he looked like he was jumping on and off the road it was dark and so i slowed down, drove past him again to see what he was doign then pulled into a layby to call the police - he apparently called his uncle as he thought i was acting starnge and long storey short his uncle drove up got out his car kicked my car. I drive off and he chased me - so I called the police, stayed on the line to the police while driving to the police station. When the police calmed the situation down everyone agreed it was a situation both parties had misinterpretted and we agreed to leave it at that.

My solicitor is not surprised at either of these arrests and says thay are just attempts to re-interview me and try and get names of friends and family to interview.

I have 2 questions:

1. Is this "normal" police bahaviour
2. I am trying to piece together my actions around 2003 and the alleged incident. As the police said the guy said I had a certain car and lived at a certain address I now know that there was no way I met him in 2003 - they said teh "rape" took place on the last time i met him - which was definatley 2005 could have even been 2006 - so he was definatley legal. My solicitor knows all this and i am trying to get dates and times etc. What I want to ask is if I am reinterviewed shoudl i give this infomration to the police - at the original interview they kept saying 2003 and i never commented at all - having just been arrested for something i wasmeant to have done 8 years ago my head wasnt thinking straight - now I can be more sure do i tell them - or keep this sort of evidence until it gets to court?

Many thanks - this site is wonderful!

[Casehardened]

i am trying to get dates and times etc. What I want to ask is if I am reinterviewed shoudl i give this infomration to the police - at the original interview they kept saying 2003 and i never commented at all - having just been arrested for something i wasmeant to have done 8 years ago my head wasnt thinking straight - now I can be more sure do i tell them - or keep this sort of evidence until it gets to court?

I had a similar dilemma in that my accuser alleged one incident occurred on a specific date. I did in fact have a cast iron alibi but didn't realise this until after the interview when I was able to check my diary.

In view of the words of the caution, I was concerned that I might not be able to use this defence in court if I hadn't mentioned it at the interview.

I queried this with my solicitor and asked if I should notify the OIC but he said that no-one would expect me to remember what I was doing on every exact date without the diary to hand and “we should keep our powder dry”, in other words, spring an ambush in court.

Obviously you must make a judgement call on this, you doubtless would prefer not to go to court rather than challenge the under-age issue. Have you or your solicitor got the tapes of the interview regarding the details of car and address? Obviously the dates you lived at your address and owned your car is a matter of record. Even so, once you have given them the correct facts, they may go back to the accuser and reinterview them. He may then say he was confused and give them the 'right' details.

OTOH if you give the correct dates for the allegation when the guy is of legal age, the case against you changes from statuary rape to an issue of consent, a much easier matter to construct a defence for.

[Saffron]

Yes, this is typical of some police forces. It gives them an opportunity to pull you in for "further questioning" and further blackens your character should the case get as far as trial.

With regard to the dates, I agree with Casehardened. It's a tough situation to call. Giving them the correct dates may cause them to drop the case. However, it also gives them to opportunity to go back to the accuser and invite them to change the dates, claiming they were "confused".
Personally, if I had my time again and I had cast-iron proof that the accuser was lying, I would keep it to myself. Then, should your case go as far as trial, your barrister can cross-examine the complainant and make sure he is 100% certain of the year. At that point your barrister can produce the evidence that the accuser is lying.

Thanks for the update. Keep coming back.

[windmill]

thank you

thank you as ever for your sound advice! I do find this site helpful. It fightens me how this sort of thing is happening so much but talking to others who are going through similar experiences is a help.

[utterlydestroyed]

aS A gay man I can answer your question..... " is this normal police behaviour?"....YES & thrice yes!

...and since you are/were accussed of a (gay) male rape & given embedded & protected homophobic attitudes & practises within police forces...yes, they (police) probably will come after you, again... & again... & again...at least that is my personal experience of homophobic Devon & Cornwall Constabulary (Please, please don't say your in their patch)

....and if you are in the southwest...under NO circumstances whatsoever approach Intercom Trust!

Dozens of defence witness statements were provided to police, documentation & physical evidence references...police later suppressed ALL of the provided information from court...AND even when we made formal complaint (IPCC) & provided police own documentation...they refuse to investigate.

Your in a different world now...where the police are entirely 100% your enemy & as a gay man...your twice the police target.
http://www.pinkpasty.blogspot.com

[utterlydestroyed]

NB: The 'equal' age of consent at 16yrs of age for gay men came into affect 1st Jan 2001. NOT with the 2003 Sexual Offences Act (effective 1st May 2004).

A perculiarity, is the age at which a nude photo may be considered indecent (Some may remember the Sun Newspaper topless photos of 16yr old female models pre 2004) ironically changed 'from' 16yrs UP to '18yrs' with the 2003 SOA. (Effective 1st May 2004)

Making it legal to have consensual sex at 16yrs old...but not to take a nude photo of the same lover at 16yrs old....interesting considering endemic practise of 'Sexting' amongst teenagers being reported in the press (That is to say swapping nude photos of each other & texting them by mobile phone to each other)

[windmill]

police attitude to gay rape in north of england

Thanks for this Utterlydestroyed - does anyone have any experience iof police forces in the north east uk?

[windmill]

Further update

I was telehoned today and asked to go to the police station for further questioning. I met the solisitor and duly went to be interviewed. My solisitor adviced that I say nothing at interview, which i did. The police state that they have some further evidence about when i had my car tha the "victim" stated I had at the time of the alleged rape and that the dates I had teh car meant that the date the "victim" said i met them was incorrect and it now puts the guy a minimum of being late 15 yrs old up to 17 yrs old - I have always said i belived him to be 16. The guy also showed me a passport and the police no that he did indeed have a passport at the time. This does seem to strengthen my case - however because the original duty solisitor, when I asked him did not know the year the law changed to equalise the age of consent (it was 2000 - but at teh time he didnt know I i couldnt remember under the pressure of being arrested) in my original interview with the police I said on a number of occasions "i belived and they led me to belive they were of legal age" I also said on other occsions "I was led to belive they were 18" - therefore the police say I have lied.

I cant get an appointment with my solititor for 3 weeks due to holidays so I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this.

You may also be aware I was subsequently arrested for Harrassment of witnesses (completely denied) - nothing was mentioned about this. The other 2 subsequent arrests, the images on my pc which my partner admitted to (now an ex-partner) he has now been re-interviewed and is blaming some of the images on me - so they questioned me again about that and the final arrest which was the rediculous Suspected abduction - they questioned me on this again now having got teh original transcripts from when I phoned the police about this - it wasnt much use to the as it suported what i said so i am not too sure what they were getting at.

My bail date has been brought forward from july to May and the case i think has gone to the CPS - Bail conditions have been added - to reside at my address, not contact my ex-partner and not contact witnesses - and they have taken my passport.

I guess my questions are what happens now - these are horrific and serious potential charges - my life is in ruins and just wondered what people thought?

[Casehardened]

Hi,

It doesn't seem too bad; there is now proof that your accuser was 'mistaken' regarding the dates, leading on the the question what else might he be mistaken about. Taking the very worst case scenario, your barrister can make something of this, though it's a pity he could no longer spring this as a surprise.

As to your own mistake this doesn't seem too bad, the distinction between "I believed they were 18" and "I believed they were 16" doesnt seem huge. I guess that not too many folks outside of the gay community will realise that the age of consent came down in 2000, I certainly didn't, so your confusion will seem perfectly understandable to a jury.

The important thing is that it would now seem likely they that were over the age of consent, so the issue is likely to be whether they consented rather than simply whether a sexual act took place, much more difficult for the CPS to prove.

As for the other matters, it seems that the police are casting a wide net to try to get you on something, not very nice for you but it suggests that they haven't really got anything positve on you on any of the individual points.

It's no help to say try not to worry, you won't be able to put it out of your mind but use these thoughts fruitfully, imagine all the questions that might be put to you and construct suitable responses.

[windmill]

thank you

thank you very much - a very level headed response and has calmed me down a little! thanks

[windmill]

UPDATE - Is a fair trial possible with press coverage???

Haven't been on the site for a while as I cant face it. However late May I was charged with a variety of offences relating to this incident. Within 2 hours of me being charged I had press outside my door taking pictures and now all the local papers have been carrying the storey. I have been unable to leave the house, and have been sacked from work for binging the organisation into "disrepute".

As for the rape charges, my solicitor says the CPS and police have gone for a "Scatter gun approach" hoping something will stick, although he also says it makes it easier for my defence as if we can undermine clearly some of the charges the rest will also show reasonable doubt. I cant stress enough however that I am innocent and will be pleading as such.

As for work - an employment specialist seems to think I have a strong case of unfair dismissal - the only slightly good news is my house insurance will cover legal expenses for employment tribunal! I have worked for the organisation for 25 years - I just cant believe it!

So that's it - life ruined, reputation ruined. My family have been excellent - I am living with my sister atm which is great for company and support, although this now seems to mean i cant claim housing benefit!

I have to go to Crown Court for the initial hearing next week - I am so scared and embarrassed. I dont understand how this can all be in the press - how will I get a fair trial?????

[help-please]

I am so sorry to read that , how can this hit the papers and like you say, how can you expect a fair trial, the blackening of your name before a trial is totally unfair, innocent until proven gulity .

how did they get your address? surely it can't of been given to them by the police?

[Rights Fighter]

As for the rape charges, my solicitor says the CPS and police have gone for a "Scatter gun approach" hoping something will stick, although he also says it makes it easier for my defence as if we can undermine clearly some of the charges the rest will also show reasonable doubt

It seems that there was only one "incident". This suggests that several charges have arisen from one alleged incident.

Are you saying that there are multiple "specimen" counts? If so, a good defence team will atempt to "particularise" each count.

Do you have a defence team in whom you are confident?

[Casehardened]

So sorry to hear you've been charged, seems like someone in the police is having a go especially, as Help-please mentioned, with the press getting hold of the story so quickly.

Arrest and charge becomes part of your criminal record (sorry!) but this record is not available to the public and it's not till your first appearance in court (sorry again!) that the press first get to know your name and address.

I wonder if someone from plod tipped them off & also wonder if your defence could make something of this. As you say, the jury will be locals and if they've already read about the case, they may well pre-judge.

I'm sure you'll do this anyway but have a good think about your defence strategy; you know the facts better than the solicitor so consider everything that might be helpful and then sit down with him to jointly decide what to put in the defence statement (and also, if possible, something to ambush the prosecution with)

Most importantly, keep strong & positive.

[Saffron]

Great advice from Casehardened.
Now that you have been charged, you can start being proactive. Your sol will have all the statements and should give you copies. Go through them all with a fine-toothed comb and make detailed notes about any inconsistencies.
Let us know how you get on