Tweet
This case has wasted such a huge amount of money, tax payers money. It has been to trial three times. Not because of new evidence or anything. But because women against rape and the complainant would not drop it.
The first court case, heard at Burnley Crown Court, was never fully seen through. The judge, heard the complainants evidence and on day 2, said: “I have formed some particular views on this case and have a good mind to end it here”. Rather than directing the jury to return verdicts of not guilty, she let the charge “lie on the file”.
Let me give you an example. If someone burgles a house, a judge can let the charge of burglary lay on their file, meaning that if they do it again, they will be punished for both. This is the example they gave to Marc. He wasn’t happy with this as he maintained that he never raped her anyway, so why tell him not to “do it again?”.
This was the end of it. Until Marc received a letter from his solicitors in 2012 (the original case was 2009), telling him to contact them about criminal proceedings against him.
We went to see the solicitors right away, and they explained that the complainant was trying to get the case reinstated. She had appealed unsuccessfully to the Crown Prosecution Service on a few occasions, but they had now been pressured in to trying to take it on again by Women Against Rape.
The application was heard at Preston Crown Court, and it was decided that the case would proceed. Imagine how that feels. A man who thought that unless he was to be accused of rape again (he isn’t a rapist so he wouldn’t be), he wouldn’t hear of the ludicrous allegations again. But here he is a few years down the line, with a potential stretch in jail ahead of him if he didn’t prove his innocence.
So the case was listed for January 2013. The case was fully heard. Women against rape turned up, about 5 of them, they invited the press, and Marc’s name was plastered in the local papers. We weren’t allowed to mention that the accuser was a prostitute, and I understand this as of course prostitutes can still be raped. Anyhow, after a gruelling 6 days, the jury announced that they could not reach a verdict. The CPS decided a week later that there should be a re-trial.
The retrial date was December 2013. So almost a whole year of this hanging over us again. The first day of the trial, Marc’s barrister informed us that the complainant had recently made false accusations of kidnap against her boyfriend. The police has conducted a full investigation, checked CCTV and interviewed whitnesses. They concluded that she had fabricated the whole thing. Women Against Rape got involved with that, and complained to the police that they had not dealt with this “vulnerable woman’s” complaint properly. Another investigation was carried out and they again concluded that the accuser was lying. As the defence was that the complainant was making the whole thing up, and that she was accusing Marc of rape as revenge, we asked the judge for permission to put this to her in evidence. It was refused as it was apparently not relevant. NOT RELEVANT?! It’s another false accusation against a boyfriend who would not get back with her. Another lie. Another attempt to ruin someone’s life. What struck me was that Women Against Rape knew all about her false accusations against others, believe me this isn't the first and won't be the last, yet still continued to pursue the case, and pressured for a conviction. Surely this is going against the cause that they are so passionate about. False rape accusations take away from real victims.
We continued the trial as normal and were allowed to mention 5 previous false allegations. Not of rape, but of burglary, criminal damage, theft of her vehicle threats to kill and assault. We were allowed to touch on her mental health problems and her sexual history with Marc.
I cannot understand, why anyone gave in to this pathetic charity. I have reason for calling them that. They sat through the trial shaking their heads and looking at Marc like he was a sick pervert. No matter how many times the complainant tripped herself up or committed purjory, they continued to sit there and pretend her allegations were solid, truthful ones. They just want a rape case to jump on, regardless of if the complainants version of events is extremely flawed and quite frankly as far fetched as you can get. They were pouncing on her barrister when he left the courtroom telling him things they thought he had missed.
The details of the case: Marc was in a relationship with, lets call her X, for about 2 years. It was a stormy relationship and was always on and off. The relationship revolved mainly around sex, with X mostly going to Marc's house for just that. They were very adventurous, and would often film themselves having sex. They would partake in role play, dress up and much more.
X had a number of mental health problems, and was very up and down with her personality. When she was angry she would threaten all sorts, including getting Marc sent to prison for rape, he never took her seriously and forgave her when they made up.
One night X turned up at his house, saying she was having an operation the following morning, to remove the cancer that she was riddled with. He said she would like to stay the night. They had planned a role play situation a few weeks before, where Marc would wrap rope around Xs wrists, and have sex with her whilst she pretended to be asleep. Silly I know, but thats how they were with each other. And clever Marc decided that this was a good basis for some home made porn. So they made a video of the event, continued to have sex after the film was finished and went to sleep. X got up for her op in the morning, and that was that. Marc went to see her at hospital, and she spun him some bull**** about having a baby when she was 13, that was taken off her. This is a woman who could never has children, and had her only child through IVF only a few years ago. He walked away and vowed to never get back with her as he couldn't believe a word that came out of her mouth. Her version is that he slapped her across the face whilst she was lying in the hospital bed. No nurses witnessed this, nobody heard any commotion and she gave two different stories as to how and where he slapped her. Another lie.
They saw each other 8 weeks after this. She went to his house for some sex. They watched the video of the role play, got turned on and had sex, she started bleeding badly and so rushed off. This is the last time he saw her, although he did call her to see if she was okay the day after.
She threatened Marc with rape numerous times in the following months, when he wouldn;t meet up with her. Five months later, she called the police, saying that she had known nothing about the acts that were performed on her in the video, she had been unconscious and she was raped. She said Marc had shown her the video on his 50 inch wide screen tv, she cried, and secretly blue toothed the photos and video to herself whilst he was out of the room. This was all to make it sound more dramatic. Marc gave her the video as they always shared what they got up to. He didn't have the means or the know leg to hook his phone up to the tv.
X gave her evidence. She argued with her own barrister and the judge, and wouldn't answer anything straight. She lied about her drug use, which unravelled through a police report saying she had drug debts and her house stunk of cannabis.
Marc gave his evidence in a clear, honest and genuine manner. He connected with the jury and answered everything to the best of his ability.
The case concluded and the judge summed up. She gave a very fair summary, and then the jury retired at 3:40pm. We were told to wait in the building til half 4, as the jury would select their foreman, then deliberate and then probably retire for the day, returning tomorrow. To our surprise, at 4pm, we were called back in to the court room and were told the jury had reached a verdict. We hurried in to the courtroom, and let me tell you, I have never felt my heart beat so hard in my chest.
The jury came out and took their seats. The foreman stood and was asked what the verdict was. He said clearly and with confidence "NOT GUILTY". I don't think I heard anything else after this. Marc cried and I cried. Those words marked the end of the most difficult time of our lives. The jury smiled at us and I could see the compassion in their eyes. I was shaking and smiled back, hoping they knew how great full we are. They could have easily have sent an innocent man to prison, had they not taken their role seriously. These 12 people have had our lives in their hands, and have made the right decision and I will never ever forget that. I just wish I could have thanked them all properly.
What struck me was, that after all the official parts of the trial such as having Marc look like a criminal by being behind he glass in the dock with the security guard, as soon as the foreman said not guilty, Marc was told to leave and that was it. The judge said nothing, we were just...... Gone. Which is what we wanted, there's no doubt about that, but there were no closing words or any summary or appreciation of what Marc had been through.
The first court case, heard at Burnley Crown Court, was never fully seen through. The judge, heard the complainants evidence and on day 2, said: “I have formed some particular views on this case and have a good mind to end it here”. Rather than directing the jury to return verdicts of not guilty, she let the charge “lie on the file”.
Let me give you an example. If someone burgles a house, a judge can let the charge of burglary lay on their file, meaning that if they do it again, they will be punished for both. This is the example they gave to Marc. He wasn’t happy with this as he maintained that he never raped her anyway, so why tell him not to “do it again?”.
This was the end of it. Until Marc received a letter from his solicitors in 2012 (the original case was 2009), telling him to contact them about criminal proceedings against him.
We went to see the solicitors right away, and they explained that the complainant was trying to get the case reinstated. She had appealed unsuccessfully to the Crown Prosecution Service on a few occasions, but they had now been pressured in to trying to take it on again by Women Against Rape.
The application was heard at Preston Crown Court, and it was decided that the case would proceed. Imagine how that feels. A man who thought that unless he was to be accused of rape again (he isn’t a rapist so he wouldn’t be), he wouldn’t hear of the ludicrous allegations again. But here he is a few years down the line, with a potential stretch in jail ahead of him if he didn’t prove his innocence.
So the case was listed for January 2013. The case was fully heard. Women against rape turned up, about 5 of them, they invited the press, and Marc’s name was plastered in the local papers. We weren’t allowed to mention that the accuser was a prostitute, and I understand this as of course prostitutes can still be raped. Anyhow, after a gruelling 6 days, the jury announced that they could not reach a verdict. The CPS decided a week later that there should be a re-trial.
The retrial date was December 2013. So almost a whole year of this hanging over us again. The first day of the trial, Marc’s barrister informed us that the complainant had recently made false accusations of kidnap against her boyfriend. The police has conducted a full investigation, checked CCTV and interviewed whitnesses. They concluded that she had fabricated the whole thing. Women Against Rape got involved with that, and complained to the police that they had not dealt with this “vulnerable woman’s” complaint properly. Another investigation was carried out and they again concluded that the accuser was lying. As the defence was that the complainant was making the whole thing up, and that she was accusing Marc of rape as revenge, we asked the judge for permission to put this to her in evidence. It was refused as it was apparently not relevant. NOT RELEVANT?! It’s another false accusation against a boyfriend who would not get back with her. Another lie. Another attempt to ruin someone’s life. What struck me was that Women Against Rape knew all about her false accusations against others, believe me this isn't the first and won't be the last, yet still continued to pursue the case, and pressured for a conviction. Surely this is going against the cause that they are so passionate about. False rape accusations take away from real victims.
We continued the trial as normal and were allowed to mention 5 previous false allegations. Not of rape, but of burglary, criminal damage, theft of her vehicle threats to kill and assault. We were allowed to touch on her mental health problems and her sexual history with Marc.
I cannot understand, why anyone gave in to this pathetic charity. I have reason for calling them that. They sat through the trial shaking their heads and looking at Marc like he was a sick pervert. No matter how many times the complainant tripped herself up or committed purjory, they continued to sit there and pretend her allegations were solid, truthful ones. They just want a rape case to jump on, regardless of if the complainants version of events is extremely flawed and quite frankly as far fetched as you can get. They were pouncing on her barrister when he left the courtroom telling him things they thought he had missed.
The details of the case: Marc was in a relationship with, lets call her X, for about 2 years. It was a stormy relationship and was always on and off. The relationship revolved mainly around sex, with X mostly going to Marc's house for just that. They were very adventurous, and would often film themselves having sex. They would partake in role play, dress up and much more.
X had a number of mental health problems, and was very up and down with her personality. When she was angry she would threaten all sorts, including getting Marc sent to prison for rape, he never took her seriously and forgave her when they made up.
One night X turned up at his house, saying she was having an operation the following morning, to remove the cancer that she was riddled with. He said she would like to stay the night. They had planned a role play situation a few weeks before, where Marc would wrap rope around Xs wrists, and have sex with her whilst she pretended to be asleep. Silly I know, but thats how they were with each other. And clever Marc decided that this was a good basis for some home made porn. So they made a video of the event, continued to have sex after the film was finished and went to sleep. X got up for her op in the morning, and that was that. Marc went to see her at hospital, and she spun him some bull**** about having a baby when she was 13, that was taken off her. This is a woman who could never has children, and had her only child through IVF only a few years ago. He walked away and vowed to never get back with her as he couldn't believe a word that came out of her mouth. Her version is that he slapped her across the face whilst she was lying in the hospital bed. No nurses witnessed this, nobody heard any commotion and she gave two different stories as to how and where he slapped her. Another lie.
They saw each other 8 weeks after this. She went to his house for some sex. They watched the video of the role play, got turned on and had sex, she started bleeding badly and so rushed off. This is the last time he saw her, although he did call her to see if she was okay the day after.
She threatened Marc with rape numerous times in the following months, when he wouldn;t meet up with her. Five months later, she called the police, saying that she had known nothing about the acts that were performed on her in the video, she had been unconscious and she was raped. She said Marc had shown her the video on his 50 inch wide screen tv, she cried, and secretly blue toothed the photos and video to herself whilst he was out of the room. This was all to make it sound more dramatic. Marc gave her the video as they always shared what they got up to. He didn't have the means or the know leg to hook his phone up to the tv.
X gave her evidence. She argued with her own barrister and the judge, and wouldn't answer anything straight. She lied about her drug use, which unravelled through a police report saying she had drug debts and her house stunk of cannabis.
Marc gave his evidence in a clear, honest and genuine manner. He connected with the jury and answered everything to the best of his ability.
The case concluded and the judge summed up. She gave a very fair summary, and then the jury retired at 3:40pm. We were told to wait in the building til half 4, as the jury would select their foreman, then deliberate and then probably retire for the day, returning tomorrow. To our surprise, at 4pm, we were called back in to the court room and were told the jury had reached a verdict. We hurried in to the courtroom, and let me tell you, I have never felt my heart beat so hard in my chest.
The jury came out and took their seats. The foreman stood and was asked what the verdict was. He said clearly and with confidence "NOT GUILTY". I don't think I heard anything else after this. Marc cried and I cried. Those words marked the end of the most difficult time of our lives. The jury smiled at us and I could see the compassion in their eyes. I was shaking and smiled back, hoping they knew how great full we are. They could have easily have sent an innocent man to prison, had they not taken their role seriously. These 12 people have had our lives in their hands, and have made the right decision and I will never ever forget that. I just wish I could have thanked them all properly.
What struck me was, that after all the official parts of the trial such as having Marc look like a criminal by being behind he glass in the dock with the security guard, as soon as the foreman said not guilty, Marc was told to leave and that was it. The judge said nothing, we were just...... Gone. Which is what we wanted, there's no doubt about that, but there were no closing words or any summary or appreciation of what Marc had been through.
Comment