Historical accusation of rape - Help Needed

[falselyaccused]

is there a way of finding out if a previous allegation she made against someone else got anywhere?

[Casehardened]

If it got as far as a trial then this will be a matter of public record, the tricky bit would be finding out which court's records to search!

If, as is more likely, the allegation was investigated and NFA'd , then the information will be on the PNC. If your OIC is on your side he might drop a hint in response to an informal enquiry from your solicitor.

If the allegation was made but not reported all that could be done is to get a statement from whoever she told and try to get this admitted as evidence.

[Rights Fighter]

If it got as far as a trial then this will be a matter of public record, the tricky bit would be finding out which court's records to search!

If, as is more likely, the allegation was investigated and NFA'd , then the information will be on the PNC. If your OIC is on your side he might drop a hint in response to an informal enquiry from your solicitor.

If the allegation was made but not reported all that could be done is to get a statement from whoever she told and try to get this admitted as evidence.

Not all of these cases are in the media and there would be no public record, unless you know the name, date, where the trial was held, judge etc. Even then it would be almost impossible as you wouldn't get any info as to G or NG if they denied it, only that it went to trial, if it did.

Police officers are not allowed to access the PNC without good reason. There have been some cases in the press where officers have done that and been sacked.

[falselyaccused]

Hey.

Thanks for getting back to me you two. So to clarify, if the previous allegation she has made didnt make it to trial, prosecuted or whatever there is no way for me to find out?

The police asked me in my interview if I could think of a reason why she made the allegation. At the time I stated that I had no idea. having had time to think about it, I can only think she possibly wanted the police to believe her in the other allegation so made one up against me to give weight to the original one.

4 weeks to go until my first bail appearance. Bricking it.

[is there justice?]

Hi Falselyaccused

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

I think you have been given some excellent advice already.

One thing that struck me was you said the FA had given all this detail but also thinks her drink was spiked. I had my drink spiked in the early 80s when I'd never even heard of it. Luckily due to an extremely good friend who stuck to our ' never be separated code' nothing bad happened other than being ill and disorientated but even now I could not give you a detailed account of that evening. It is quite different to being drunk.

Also, liars give very detailed accounts, the bigger the lie, the more detail in my experience. This will give you/ your legal team lots of scope to pick holes in it if the worst happens which hopefully it won't.

[Rights Fighter]

Hey.

Thanks for getting back to me you two. So to clarify, if the previous allegation she has made didnt make it to trial, prosecuted or whatever there is no way for me to find out?

The police asked me in my interview if I could think of a reason why she made the allegation. At the time I stated that I had no idea. having had time to think about it, I can only think she possibly wanted the police to believe her in the other allegation so made one up against me to give weight to the original one.

4 weeks to go until my first bail appearance. Bricking it.

If you are charged, your solicitor should be able to find out about any previous allegation that went to the police. If you have a good duty sol he or she might find out beforehand, but remember they aren't paid so unless you are prepared to pay them, don't expect them to work for nothing. Some will do as a gesture of goodwill, many just do not have the time.

[falselyaccused]

Hi Falselyaccused

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

I think you have been given some excellent advice already.

One thing that struck me was you said the FA had given all this detail but also thinks her drink was spiked. I had my drink spiked in the early 80s when I'd never even heard of it. Luckily due to an extremely good friend who stuck to our ' never be separated code' nothing bad happened other than being ill and disorientated but even now I could not give you a detailed account of that evening. It is quite different to being drunk.

Also, liars give very detailed accounts, the bigger the lie, the more detail in my experience. This will give you/ your legal team lots of scope to pick holes in it if the worst happens which hopefully it won't.

This is exactly one of the parts of her 'story' that didnt make sense to me in the interview. She is supposed to have had very little to drink, despite having the intention to get drunk, passed out as a result of being spiked, not been able to move i.e. paralysis and then all of a sudden is able to get up and 'push me off'. Just doesn't make sense.

RightsFighter - I wouldn't expect anybody to work for free, I am aware of the constraints of legal aid nowadays. It's something ill get them to consider IF it goes to charge. Thanks for your advice. Invaluable as ever.

[can it get worse]

I'm hoping that the police and CPS see sense. Once this is over with I am going to get somebody to look at the evidence threshold required for historical cases. The idea that charges can be brought on the word of someone without any evidence to back up the claim is remarkable. I always had faith in the justice system but after reading some of the stories on here my faith has been seriously eroded.

Hi.... sorry to read of your experience. You have already received plenty of help from here. I hope you will not require any of it and you get your NFA very soon.

Just going back to your post no.3 - you speak about the threshold. When my partner was charged of an historic false allegation - we were told by our experienced solicitor that a few years ago, a charge would not have been made. However, the OIC recently stated that the threshold has not lowered. I would be extremely interested to know what 'evidence' CPS need to have in order to make a decision to charge.

[Rights Fighter]

This is exactly one of the parts of her 'story' that didnt make sense to me in the interview. She is supposed to have had very little to drink, despite having the intention to get drunk, passed out as a result of being spiked, not been able to move i.e. paralysis and then all of a sudden is able to get up and 'push me off'. Just doesn't make sense.

RightsFighter - I wouldn't expect anybody to work for free, I am aware of the constraints of legal aid nowadays. It's something ill get them to consider IF it goes to charge. Thanks for your advice. Invaluable as ever.

Sorry if I came across as a bit 'terse' when I said that, but so many people pester solicitors who they have not instructed, expecting them to drop everything and either speak with them or have a meeting with them. When they don't do that, the sol is then criticised......

I know that some have pestered Gerry McD - even out of office hours. It's not really fair - hence why I keep repeating the same thing, as many members don't read other people's threads and don't get the message.

Some will as a gesture of goodwill, when they have the time......

[falselyaccused]

Bail in less than 2 weeks.

My first Bail date is creeping up on me. Genuinely have no idea what to expect. Does my solicitor need to be involved? Will they update me on where they are with the case?

So many feelings and emotions in my head at the moment. I can tell you that about a week prior to getting arrested I was given some of the best news ever. This has really put a stop to any positivity i can have at the moment though.

[is there justice?]

It is common just to be re-bailed. I would make sure I wasn't duped into a few quick words without sol present.

As you haven't been charged you would have to pay for the sol. I'm sure someone will be song who knows better than I do.

As for being positive, it is so hard to deal with all this cr*p but keep your head up and think of the good news you had. Just tonight Derry posted about his NG.

[Rights Fighter]

If they call you in for an interview when you go for bail, you are entitled to solicitor then. You could ask your duty to ring plod shop and ask if their services will be required.

Good luck though

[falselyaccused]

Nervous

I'm so nervous. Attending bail on Tuesday and I can only think about worst case scenarios. Have to travel over 100 miles and take 2 days off work, if they re-bail me to 'investigate further' I'll be so annoyed. I'll probably throw a sarcastic comment about them having had 4 years to investigate. Something struck me the other day as well, at the end of the interview they said that they were going to get in contact with a couple who had made a 999 call on the evening in question as potential witnesses. Why hadn't the police done this before? Seems like such a lazy 'investigation' took place. The police knew where I lived when the allegation was made but never even bothered to get in touch?

I'm finding that every spare minute I have in the day i'll be researching facts and figures about rape allegations, cps prosecution percentages, conviction rates, detection rates.

Corroboration is an issue in my case. There is no one that I can remember being there who can help prove her allegations wrong. I don't want to give a list of 'potential' witnesses who might not necessarily have been there for fear of giving the police the impression of a wild goose chase.

Hopefully Tuesday at noon i'll know something.

[Feeling Helpless]

There's always light at the end of the tunnel

I'm so nervous. Attending bail on Tuesday and I can only think about worst case scenarios. Have to travel over 100 miles and take 2 days off work, if they re-bail me to 'investigate further' I'll be so annoyed. I'll probably throw a sarcastic comment about them having had 4 years to investigate. Something struck me the other day as well, at the end of the interview they said that they were going to get in contact with a couple who had made a 999 call on the evening in question as potential witnesses. Why hadn't the police done this before? Seems like such a lazy 'investigation' took place. The police knew where I lived when the allegation was made but never even bothered to get in touch?

I'm finding that every spare minute I have in the day i'll be researching facts and figures about rape allegations, cps prosecution percentages

Hey, I have just read the threads and I am sorry to hear about what you are going through and how nervous you must be feeling. The best thing to focus on is getting through your answer to bail and seeing what happens after that. You seem very focused on the bad things and what may happen but I think you need to take some of this great advice already given and it should help with what may or may not happen.
I do hope you aren't suffering alone through this, I have seen posts like this a lot and people seem to be very lost and scared, understandable of course! When you answer to bail make sure you have someone with you, and if you are to be interviewed then you must make sure you have some representation with you.
Obviously it is a very difficult time seeing as it is having an affect on your future prospects, until the decision is made you should follow your dreams, make your plans, is there a special someone included in these plans? Try as hard as you can to stay on track.
Avoid mentioning the length of time it has taken for the police to be in touch, however frustrating it may be, this will already be a factor but no need to become an enemy, so long as you coo-berate with them and do as they ask you will be in and out whatever happens.
I wish you all the best, and don't forget to post for more help.

[falselyaccused]

Update

Hello all. Just a brief update on my situation. Went to the police station and was rebailed an extra month pending CPS decision. Spoke to my solicitor who stated that he doesn't think that they will have any further update for me next time round. Also said that in his opinion its unlikely to proceed due to the nature of the allegation. States that it is notoriously difficult to prove. He has put my mind at ease somewhat, it's still in there but I have found myself thinking about it less and less over this past week.

I know that its not up to him and it can still go further but for the moment this is what is getting me through the days. He is going to see if he can get any info a couple of days before my next bail date to see if he can save me the journey. Although it was nice being at home, albeit for this reason. The solicitor started out conversation with 'regrettably' and my heart leapt into my mouth, he went on to say that I had come all this way for nothing. We chatted about my holiday and work and that was that. Didn't even speak to a copper.

Afterward my body just reacted by saying that it wanted food! Was so nervous in the morning that I didnt dare eat anything! Devoured a Wetherspoons breakfast!!

So yea, little bit rambly i know but just typing as I'm thinking. I'm happy to know that the case has moved on to the cps and isn't still being investigated, shows progress (they've had 4 years eh) and like I said the solicitor has really settled my mind. Feel more on a level plane.

Also went in to my new job today, spoke to them a bit. Haven't told them as don't want to jeopardise my position unless I absolutely have to tell them. Security checks are done through someone else and if anything comes up, they can't tell them because of data protection and all that. So I feel like I have a little bit of control over that situation as well.

Cheers