brother falsely accused & now charged

[scaredsister]

Dear all,

I have been reading these forums for the past few months now and have decided its time to share our story. Everyone is so kind and helpful and I could really do with some support!

My poor younger brother (21) was falsely accused of rape in October. Well actually the inconsistencies start almost immediately. My younger brother's best friend was in fact the one to initially be accused by this girl. Two months after a house party in August FA (false accuser - is this the correct lingo?) went to the police and accused my brother's best friend of rape. She identified him through a photo on Facebook. Straight away best friend went to the police and gave them a solid alibi - he had been arguing with his ex-girlfriend all night. His other alibi (unfortunately) was that witnesses had seen FA getting intimate with my brother. Instead of the police assuming that she had lied they considered that it was a case of mistaken identity and my brother was in fact her rapist - and he was of course taken in for questioning (which is fine.. the police have to do their job).

This is where the story gets weirder. My younger brother insists that they did not have any sex whatsoever - just a bit of passionate kissing and a little bit of fondling. At this point I have reiterated many times to my brother that it is not a crime if they did have sex, and it would be in his best interest to admit it if they did, however still he sticks to the story that there was not any sex. So strike one against FA - there is no DNA evidence (assuming my brother is telling the truth - and I honestly believe he is).

Strike 2 against FA: The morning after the alleged incident FA pointed my younger brother out to their mutual friend and their friend named him then and there (full name, at this point mutual friend believed FA) - yet she still went to the police with the wrong name. Mutual friend has told police that my brother was identified the morning after.

Strike 3 against FA: She has told all of her friends VERY inconsistent stories. To one person she told she had got away just in time. To another friend she said she wasn't raped but definitely sexually assaulted. And to yet another friend she told she woke up with him inside her. To the police she told that as she was laying in bed awake she was held forcibly down by her shoulders and roughly raped twice. The police have questioned a few of the friends that FA has spoken to about it and so are aware of these changing stories. Witnesses also said that she was remarkably calm the morning after the alleged incident, and carried on her day as normal - even writing a thank you letter for such a 'lovely party' (weird right?!)

Strike 4: There were witnesses!! This happened at a house party when people were starting to settle down for the night. At least three other people were on the (OPEN) landing with my brother and FA when the alleged incident occurred. For some unimaginable reason the police have not questioned these witnesses - does anybody have a suggestion as to why they haven't?! It would have cleared things up very quickly.

Strike 5: In the two months between alleged incident and police involvement FA visited my brother at his university. They, together with a a few friends, went for lunch; strolled arm in arm along the pier, and went out clubbing. She linked arms with my brother, the boy she pointed out the morning after they kissed as the person that raped her.

She is also known to have mental health issues (we assume bipolar) and is known to fabricate stories for attention. Again character witnesses have told the police this. From what we have garnered from talking to friends not one of her friends believes this happened.. even her best friend initially begged her to own up and put my brother out of his misery - and when FA didn't her best friend discontinued contact with her, which - whilst not evidence - says a lot about this girl and the situation don't you think??

So anyway after hearing all of this my family assumed it would be dropped by CPS and had kind-of-almost-half stopped worrying about it. Until this morning when we discovered that they are charging my brother with rape and he will appear in court. The whole family are devastated and are obviously going through every possible scenario. But this is where you guys may be able to help me.. on what other evidence could CPS choose to charge my brother? There is no DNA evidence (even if my brother wasn't telling the truth about sex they haven't bothered to take his DNA so the case definitely cannot be based upon that); there were people surrounding them at the time of the alleged incident (which the police haven't bothered to interview) and her story continues to change.. I'm just wondering: what else is there?! Short of a confession, how could they possibly prove this had occurred? Surely they can't take him to court on a 'he said/she said allegation?!!

Again any advice would be extremely appreciated!!!

[scaredsister]

I'd like to add that my brother is very shy and a true old fashioned gent. All the girls say they see him as their brother or want to marry him.

[Cabins_2011]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Sadly many of these cases proceed all the way to trial based on nothing more than one persons word against another. This was the case in my own experience with no "evidence" from the FA and I was charged based on the statement alone. I was subsequently found NG at a 4 day trial 7-8mths later.

Now he has been charged the initial disclosure will be provided by the prosecution to his solicitor. As many will advise, the importance of getting the best legal team behind you is paramount. Make sure that everything is written down and discuss with your legal team how significant the witness statements are.

Other members will be able to give more detailed advice in due course.

[scaredsister]

Thank you for replying. I'm wondering - was it ever acknowledged that your case should not have gone to court on so little evidence? Or did you ever find out the CPS' reason for believing they had enough to charge you? It's so unjust isn't it? We've been told in the past that the CPS should consider that there be at least a 70% chance of conviction for a case to make it to court - surely this isn't accurate if they are pushing cases forward before they have even taken witness references or DNA samples? I've got so many questions and apart from this forum there are very few places to seek advice for the wrongly accused - it seems to be such a taboo subject when really false accusations should receive the same amount of attention as actual rapes. It's an equally heinous crime

[Cabins_2011]

The general consensus seems to be that the CPS will proceed with a charge where thier is a 51% chance of a prosecution. Along with the obvious media attention on these kind of offences, it does appear that the CPS and Police are under pressure to proceed with as many cases as where they believe the above rule can be applied. I guess the intepretation levels have increased somewhat, especially in the last two years with Op Yewtree etc.

Unfortunately, and as Bill Roach from Corrie stated after his NG last week, "there are no winners in these situations" and he is exactly right. My relief was obvious when I was found NG but you still walk away with the lingering memories and although its nearly a year on for me, the memories are still there and will never go. And of course, thier is no evaluation at the end, where all the cards are on the table, you just have to restart your life. I was lucky to have amazing support from my family, employer and close friends and without all of those combined, I would have struggled to get all the way through.

This site is a fantastic resource of information from a host of people who have differing experiences, I didnt discover the forum until weeks before my trial, I wish I had found it much earlier.

[tiger mum]

Hi Scared Sister - sorry to hear your brother is going through this horrible ordeal - you sound really switched on and balanced in your approach to this - he will really need your support over the next few months.

There are guidelines regarding how the police should treat accusations of rape but they aren't always followed. A couple of the questions I have asked my son's solicitor about the allegation made against him might shed some light on the situation for your brother.

DNA - as it was 2 months between the incident and the girl making the allegation, the possibility of matching his DNA against samples taken from her body or clothing would have been remote. Probably the time lapse meant the police knew nothing could be established via DNA evidence so they didn't bother processing it. Obviously with historical allegations there is no DNA (unless there was a baby!) - so yes they often pursue a case just on the word of the false accuser.

Witnesses - now your brother has been charged you need to build your defence. Just because the police haven't pursued some of the witnesses doesn't mean you can't. You seem pretty informed about who was at the party and what they have said about it. List all their names and contact details for your brother's solicitor. Just because the police haven't done a thorough investigation it doesn't mean they aren't relevant and I believe the defence can call witnesses the police have overlooked.

Its dreadful you have to go through it - but this girl's lies and crazy accusations will be exposed in court, I'm sure if she has mental health issues this will become apparent to everyone. My son's accuser is bonkers and young - they will have to be careful how hard they are on her as they don't want her to attract sympathy - but she will HAVE to be cross examined on the crazy story she has put forward. When you get a copy of her statement you will have chance to go through every line and provide your brother's version of events for your solicitor to prepare.

Sounds like you're in for a bumpy ride - make sure you have a good defence team you all trust. Try and make sure you or another family member are in on the process - he might not be in the best place mentally to fight this - there are people on here who feel their loved ones were advised badly and when it all goes to **** its too late if he's convicted & locked up and all you have is an appeal process to fall back on. I'd ask questions every step of the way and don't assume they'll take care of it like you will. Nobody will fight as hard for your little brother as you think they ought.

I attach some guidelines on what the police SHOULD be doing if they suspect a False Allegation - I don't know how you point the police in this direction at this stage when you are dealing with defending the accused - but maybe the solicitor appointed for your son may know more.


I'm in the same position as you were before yesterday - thinking this can't progress to a charge, but I know that could be a reality any time soon.

Stay strong, apply logic rather than emotion, research every angle - this will make you feel more in control. Keep posting and let us know how you get on. x

[scaredsister]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply Tiger mum, everything you have said has been so helpful. I've just spent hours pouring over the attachment regarding false allegations.. Unfortunately it looks so difficult to prosecute this girl that I think we are just going to have to walk away from it all when this is finally over, which is so infuriating!! We want her to know what we lies have put my brother and our family through. It's disgraceful that anyone can walk into a police station and make up any old lie and as such an innocent person gets hauled through the indignity of a court case. I'm sure you must be going through the same emotions with your son. We were already preparing a case against this girl when we got the bad news that my brother has been charged. It was such a shock

When was your son accused? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that it all gets dropped very quickly - but would love an update when you hear anything.

As mentioned by cabins, we too assumed it was being taken further because of the backlash of the op yew tree situation. There really couldn't be a worse time in history to be falsely accused of rape! We just have to pray that the jury now sees how obvious it is this girl is lying. She even admitted in her statement that she maybe couldn't clearly remember the whole details of the evening - it's so unfathomable that anyone could even consider that this is a case. It does make me wonder if there is something we have not been told about. I truly hope not!

Any stay strong and good luck, and thank you again x

[scaredsister]

Could anyone advise of a specialist solicitor in the Wiltshire area? Ideally one who accepts legal aid?

[Casehardened]

Could anyone advise of a specialist solicitor in the Wiltshire area? Ideally one who accepts legal aid?

Hi,

There are some recommendations from members in this thread; you may find a firm that is close enough to you.


http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/s...ist-solicitors

[scaredwife]

Hi scaredsister

I'm the wife of cabins who has already replied to this thread. I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through - your brother is lucky to have you to love and support him

There's not much advice I can give you on the legal side as there are many others on here who are far more qualified to comment than me. However when it comes to supporting a close family member, I understand that bit! So we are all here to help as best we can in different ways

Cabins and I are now almost 1 year on from our NG verdict (1st of march) and much as I wish it had never happened, and wouldn't ever wish it to happen to anybody else, it can and has made us stronger.

All the best, please keep us updated and ask any questions u want, no matter how small. Tell your brother to read through some of the supportive messages as well, even if he doesn't sign up, just so he knows he isn't alone in what he's going through xxx

[mumpleasehelpme]

Hi scared sister,

We all know on here how your brother, you and your family are feeling. Your emotions will be like a roller coaster, every two to three days. If things are getting hard for you all then visiting the GP for some meds may help. I know you all must be feeling so angry with this girl and the legal system at the moment, but stay focused, positive and strong.
My son has been charge too and is the same age as your brother. He too is totally innocent and on top of all this he has a life-limited illness. We love him so much, he is the kindness, soft-natured person we know. He has fantastic character references, never have got in trouble with the police before this, a hard-worker and a wonderful brother to his younger brother.

Anyway, don't talk to the friendly,polite PC dealing with your brother's case, they are there to prosecute your brother and defend the girl, that is why they did not bother to take witness statement s that would defend your brother. Tigermum was right, get names of witnesses that can defend him.

Solicitors near you who are legal aid,
David Campbell, Bristol, 0117 9552663
Ian kelcey, or john stokes, kelcey and hall, Bristol. 0117 927 9604
Hurry up and apply for legal aid because it is all changing this April.

Hope we can all support each other, whilst we are really the victims trying to get through this evil system the best we can. Just think, if our love ones are found not guilty, then we will be a lot more resilient to cope when things in life are thrown our way. Take care and give your brother a hug from me.

[scaredsister]

Thank you all so much for your support and sorry I haven’t been very responsive, but I keep dipping into the forum – which helps a lot, but sometimes don’t have the energy to do anything more than look. I hope you are all doing OK (or as well as can be expected).
I have decided that what all these innocent boys and men are being put through by FAs/police/CPS is contravening their human rights as outlined in the Human Rights Act 1998; contravention of human rights seems to make people sit up and listen!
I have put in " " what I think is relevant and put my comment in as "SS Note".
I would be very interested to hear what others think – especially the moderators please.

Article 3
Prohibition of torture
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment" or punishment.
SS Note What victims of FAs are going through is extreme, drawn-out mental torture and is excruciatingly degrading.

Article 5
Right to liberty and security
1 Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law:
(c) the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority on "reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence" or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so;
SS Note The police have no reasonable suspicion if all they are going on is contradictory, mixed up (lying) statements by FAs.

ARTICLE 6
Right to a fair trial
2 Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be "presumed innocent until proved guilty" according to law.
SS Note In the magistrates court my poor innocent brother was spoken about by the magistrates as if he was guilty while they decided whether he was ‘a danger’ to FA; they concluded he was not - but only because they live in different towns.

3 Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights:
(d) to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
SS Note On this forum I keep reading that witnesses for the defense have not been allowed to be used.

[myhome]

Hi SS and thank you for posting this and on the face of it I would agree with your interpretations. However, I don't know how this would stand from a legal point of view...it would take someone with Human Rights legal knowledge to fully answer your query....

I have decided that what all these innocent boys and men are being put through by FAs/police/CPS is contravening their human rights

just a small point, but it's not only boys and men being put through this. I am a woman who was FA'd 16 months ago. My case has only just gone to the cps. There is alsoa married couple who have just joined who have been jointly accused....

[scaredsister]

Thank you myhome, I'm really sorry, please accept my apologies, you are absolutely right I should have included women.
You poor thing - why have they prevaricated for so long? I HOPE CPS throw it out. Your human rights have been contravened massively:
Article 6
Right to a fair trial
1 In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing "within a reasonable time" by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
SS Note Surely 16 mont
hs is not remotely a reasonable time?

[Heretowin]

Thank you myhome, I'm really sorry, please accept my apologies, you are absolutely right I should have included women.
You poor thing - why have they prevaricated for so long? I HOPE CPS throw it out. Your human rights have been contravened massively:
Article 6
Right to a fair trial
1 In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing "within a reasonable time" by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
SS Note Surely 16 mont
hs is not remotely a reasonable time?

I totally agree with you but my son's case took three years to come to court and when we mentioned the entitlement to a hearing "within a reasonable time" to our barrister he agreed but shrugged and said it would only become relevant if he was found guilty and he would raise it to try and mitigate any sentence.

Not what you want to hear but is the unfair reality of what actually happens.

HTW