help needed ( newbie )

[ten_pence]

Hi everyone im sure you have all heard this before but im devestated i had 2 police officers come to my house yesterday saying Devon and Cornwall police want to talk to me. ( i now live in nottinghamshire but have family in cornwall so was abit worried ). anyway they gave me this cid number to ring so i rang it. It turns out they want to talk to me as there is an allegation i raped an ex partner 15 years ago when i was living in cornwall. I was so shocked and surprised. They want to interview me and are coming to see me on the 3rd of july. I told the police that we were living together at the time ( not saying that give me the right for sex ) but why after 15 years is she saying this? what could happen to me? also i have a family with children now. will i be going to prison?? my life is shattered and i have told my wife everything. the allergation was made 4 weeks ago in cornwall so they haven't been looking for me for 15 years but the girl was my partner at the time and we had a flat together.

many thanks for help or advice so stressed at mo.

[myhome]

Hi ten_pence and welcome to the forum though sorry you had to find us. You will get a wealth of advice and support on here...

Sadly yours is a very common story and if you read other threads on here you will probably find it's one of the most common. You will be feeling absolutely dreadful right now and for a while - it's like your world and everything you believe in has come crashing around you. All the feeling of anxiety, nausea, dread, wory etc are unfortunately quite "normal" ina very abnormal life situation.

Initial advice.
Try to remember anything that happened between you in the past that she could use for "revenge." Is custody of children an issue? Debt or unpaid mortgage? and then write it down.

Does she need money right now - £1100 - £16000 compensation is a very good motivator for unscrupulous people.

Don't talk to the police without a solicitor present. We have all found out on here that plod is not our friend. They have targets for convictions to reach so they are often more interested in getting a conviction than finding out who's innocent sadly.

My thought is that as they aren't coming to see you for a couple of weeks, then there isn't as much urgency as in some cases where they interview the same or next day after the allegation. After this interview - again you MUST have a Criminal Defence solicitor with you - they could arrest you and bail; they could do nothing other than say thank you and be in touch later.

It's impossible to second guess the outcome of investigations - each case is different and there are different ways it could turn out taking anything from a week to 18 months! Outcomes could be - No Further Action (NFA) which means there isn't currently enough "evidence" to prosecute; No Crime (NC) whihch means you are innocent in the eyes of the law; it could be referred to the CPS for further investigation. They will look at it and if they are 51% confident of getting a conviction, you will be charged and have to go for a trial - don't panic THESE ARE WINNABLE AND HAVE BEEN IN MANY CASES (search bananas on here to see).

It's good that you have confided in your wife - she will be a great support for you as many members on here have found - but she will need some suport too.

This is going to be a very difficult time for you but you are not alone - there's us and we will help you all we can - so keep posting and kep asking questions - but above all keep strong - you are innocent.......MH

[ten_pence]

Hi ten_pence and welcome to the forum though sorry you had to find us. You will get a wealth of advice and support on here...

Sadly yours is a very common story and if you read other threads on here you will probably find it's one of the most common. You will be feeling absolutely dreadful right now and for a while - it's like your world and everything you believe in has come crashing around you. All the feeling of anxiety, nausea, dread, wory etc are unfortunately quite "normal" ina very abnormal life situation.

Initial advice.
Try to remember anything that happened between you in the past that she could use for "revenge." Is custody of children an issue? Debt or unpaid mortgage? and then write it down.

Does she need money right now - £1100 - £16000 compensation is a very good motivator for unscrupulous people.

Don't talk to the police without a solicitor present. We have all found out on here that plod is not our friend. They have targets for convictions to reach so they are often more interested in getting a conviction than finding out who's innocent sadly.

My thought is that as they aren't coming to see you for a couple of weeks, then there isn't as much urgency as in some cases where they interview the same or next day after the allegation. After this interview - again you MUST have a Criminal Defence solicitor with you - they could arrest you and bail; they could do nothing other than say thank you and be in touch later.

It's impossible to second guess the outcome of investigations - each case is different and there are different ways it could turn out taking anything from a week to 18 months! Outcomes could be - No Further Action (NFA) which means there isn't currently enough "evidence" to prosecute; No Crime (NC) whihch means you are innocent in the eyes of the law; it could be referred to the CPS for further investigation. They will look at it and if they are 51% confident of getting a conviction, you will be charged and have to go for a trial - don't panic THESE ARE WINNABLE AND HAVE BEEN IN MANY CASES (search bananas on here to see).

It's good that you have confided in your wife - she will be a great support for you as many members on here have found - but she will need some suport too.

This is going to be a very difficult time for you but you are not alone - there's us and we will help you all we can - so keep posting and kep asking questions - but above all keep strong - you are innocent.......MH

many thanks, i was shaking when the police told me on the phone what it was about. and my emotions are all over the place. there are no children involved and no money involved. i have already found a solicitor and he will be coming with me on that day. at least i haven't been arrested, i have been with my wife for 13 years and this girl was a relationship before my wife. also she left me for a friend thats why we split up should i tell the police this?? i don't know what they are going to ask me. also she was seeing a councillor when we were together and on anti depressents. i was only with her for approx 7 months.

[Innocentguy1983]

Hi Ten_Pence

Sorry to hear your in this situation. I to am currently in a similar situation. My accusation was from 14 years ago when I was 16, possibly 15!

My home is right, historical accusations are ripe in the media and there is a quick win for financial gain!

Its been about 8 weeks since I first found out, the first two weeks are tough but you do get through it. My wife has been amazing...

I have to answer bail in three weeks and I have yet to be charged... Chin up.. we can do this.

Question to My home..

It's impossible to second guess the outcome of investigations - each case is different and there are different ways it could turn out taking anything from a week to 18 months! Outcomes could be - No Further Action (NFA) which means there isn't currently enough "evidence" to prosecute; No Crime (NC) whihch means you are innocent in the eyes of the law; it could be referred to the CPS for further investigation. They will look at it and if they are 51% confident of getting a conviction, you will be charged and have to go for a trial - don't panic THESE ARE WINNABLE AND HAVE BEEN IN MANY CASES (search bananas on here to see).

Do the police decide the NFA or NC or is it the CPS?

Reason I'm asking as I wasn't sure if there was a particular order these things go through?

My case is with the CPS at the moment, so have I missed the NC or NFA chance?

Cheers

[myhome]

Question to My home..

Do the police decide the NFA or NC or is it the CPS?

Reason I'm asking as I wasn't sure if there was a particular order these things go through?

My case is with the CPS at the moment, so have I missed the NC or NFA chance?

Cheers

Hi innocentguy - I'm sorry but I don't know who decides NFA or NC but it is the CPS who decides whether it will proceed to a trial or not.

As far as I am aware there is an order that it goes through inasmuch as Police - CPS - no trial - trial. I don't think there is a hierarchical order for NFA NC or trial. When the decision not to refer to CPS is made, then NFA or NC is made at the same time. If it goes to CPS they can decide to prosecute or not. I don't know who makes the outcome decision if it doesn't go to trial. If they do decide there is a 51% chance of conviction and order a trial, the case can still be thrown out before the trial starts or even during the trial....

I hope that someone with more knowledge with me will correct anything I've said that's wrong and fill in any gaps.....


Keep strong - it's a horrid situation for everyone - when someone is in control of your life.....

[How did this happen]

Hi ten_pence

Sorry I'm late welcoming you.
My partner was accused by a friend in March of this year, arrested from the scene, under went the forensic tests and six weeks later the case was dropped. Our friends the plod haven't bothered to tell us if it was NC or NFA yet!
He didn't have sex with her I was there so we have no clue why she made the accusation but we were in some ways fortunate it was such a fresh allegation.

The only advise I can give is write down everything you can think of, don't speak to the police without a lawyer they are NOT on your side and will in many cases attempt to twist the evidence to suit the 'crime'. A lot of people seem to gather evidence from FB, I had started this but luckily didn't need it.

The only other thing I can say is hold on tight for the worst ride of your life, it will be hard but you have your wife supporting you and the people on here are wonderful and so supportive. Your wife may want to join too as she will find it hard as well and I found this site was my support all the way through

Good luck x

Innocent guy
My understanding is that the NC and NFA can come from either party as the CPS will only go ahead if they have a better than 51% chance of winning.

I may be wrong about the NC but I'm pretty sure the CPS can give an NFA although it will come from the police

[sparks]

Hi tenpence,

Sorry to read your story, I just would like too add as this is an open forum it might be better you do not mention place or area names, when posting, unscrupulous characters like the Police and press might put two and two together and come up with 20, if you know what I mean.

Sparks

[is there justice?]

Hi ten_pence


The only other thing I can say is hold on tight for the worst ride of your life, it will be hard but you have your wife supporting you and the people on here are wonderful and so supportive. Your wife may want to join too as she will find it hard as well and I found this site was my support all the way through

Hi ten pence

Sorry you are here joining the other falsely accused people. Unfortunately Sparks is right - this will be the worst ride of your life but you will get through it because you have no choice. There's lots of support and advice on here.