Son arrested but not a guilty party

[anni51]

Hello - new to this but please help?

My 19 yr old son was arrested at the weekend by the CID on suspicion of rape. He was taken to a police stn and was questioned with a duty solicitor.

The story goes like this - my son and 2 of his best mates went to a town to go clubbing. They booked a B&B (triple room) to stay in after the club had closed rather than trying to get home. The went to the club, drank alcohol and danced. My sons friend was chatted up by a young lady, who he proceeded to leave the club with and take back to the accommodation. This lad had sexual intercourse with this young girl/woman.

My son and his other friend stayed at the club until it closed, took a taxi back to the B&B and couldnt get into the place as the other friend had taken the key to the room. The two lads knocked on a window to try and get in and another guest let them into the B&B. They found their room, woke up their mate and then went to their own beds. This girl was asleep in the friends bed. The girl/woman woke up the next day, said goodbye to the lads and left. The boys returned home later that day, buzzing about the good night they had had and making plans to return again on next pay day.

Unbeknown to them this girl/woman has since gone to the police and stated that she woke up in a room with 3 men and didnt know if she had been raped.

I can only assume that the police came to arrest my son as he was the one who booked the accommodation? He was released on bail with an order to attend the police station in July but he is not allowed to contact either directly or indirectly either of his friends.

I was unaware of what he had been charged with and as i cant drive at the moment due to injury, i had asked the mother of one of these lads to go and collect my son from the police station. The other lad called me last night to ask after my son and has no knowledge of why he was arrested apart from it must have something to do with that evening in the town. This lad has not yet been spoken to by the police!

I dont know what i should be doing, how i can help him, what he can be charged with, what happens now? These young men are decent guys, they like to party, they like to have fun but they just wouldnt do this.

Any help or advice would be fantastic please as i really dont know what to do.

[Rights Fighter]

Sorry you've had to find your way here, but welcome

How strange! Did the police ask your son the names of the other two lads? If so, then really they should pick them up too and question them. At this stage I would have half expected the police to make an attempt to make this a "Joint Enterprise" case.

How confident was your son with the duty solicitor? Can he remember much about the interview? I appreciate that it may well now be a blur due to the shock of it.

[anni51]

Thanks for the welcome - sad thats its come to this though! And yes i am in shock

Yes my son can remember most of the interview - they took swabs, his phone etc. They asked him questions about why the lads booked the room - "was it because they were expecting to pick girls up" - er no it was booked because they are young lads out in a different town and wanted to crash after partying! They asked lots of questions about tattoo, design, pattern etc. My son informed the police which nightclub they had been to, as the young girl/woman couldnt remember.

My son told the police about his friends, who they were and where they lived etc, bit surprised that they hadnt been contacted up to yesterday evening

Tried to look up "joint enterprise" but can you explain further please?

He felt ok with the duty solicitor but he tried to contact her today to see if she could speak to me but she has been in court, We will try her tomorrow again.

I am at a loss of what to do now.....

Thank you for your swift reply....

[jittery]

hi

Thanks for the welcome - sad thats its come to this though! And yes i am in shock

Yes my son can remember most of the interview - they took swabs, his phone etc. They asked him questions about why the lads booked the room - "was it because they were expecting to pick girls up" - er no it was booked because they are young lads out in a different town and wanted to crash after partying! They asked lots of questions about tattoo, design, pattern etc. My son informed the police which nightclub they had been to, as the young girl/woman couldnt remember.

My son told the police about his friends, who they were and where they lived etc, bit surprised that they hadnt been contacted up to yesterday evening

Tried to look up "joint enterprise" but can you explain further please?

He felt ok with the duty solicitor but he tried to contact her today to see if she could speak to me but she has been in court, We will try her tomorrow again.

I am at a loss of what to do now.....

Thank you for your swift reply....

Sorry to hear about your bad news, hope it's all over soon with a good result for you! I really must be off now but I'll pick the thread up tomorrow, see whgat's happened

[Rights Fighter]

Joint Enterprise - where two or more people conspire to commit an offence. Even if only one commits the offence the others can still be prosecuted for it. Crown have to prove that there was a conspiracy, hence the questions

They asked him questions about why the lads booked the room - "was it because they were expecting to pick girls up" - er no it was booked because they are young lads out in a different town and wanted to crash after partying!

Hopefully the police have spoken with the other two boys or will do soon

[anni51]

Hello again - just back from work.

Thanks for the reply and i managed to google a little bit more about joint enterprise - not very nice!

The others haven't yet been spoken to and my son spoke to the duty solicitor today. I have a million and one questions to ask her but he needs to send her a letter giving her authorisation. She told him that he was "helping the police with their enquiries" and that he isn't to worry I hope that i can get to talk to her asap.

I take it that this is just a waiting game now - should the other lads volunteer to go to the police station and give a statement or should i get them to call the solicitor?

[Rights Fighter]

Yes that is usually what happens, the suspect/defendant usually has to authorise the sol to speak with a 3rd person.

Somebody who posted on these forums recently claimed that three solicitors in the same firm spoke with her 24/7, whenever she needed them to - she was allegedly the fiancee of the accused. The accused allegedly only spoke with the sols twice! That caused quite a lot of suspicion on here (for a number of reasons), one being that people here know from their own experiences that sols prefer to speak with the accused, and usually will only speak with a 3rd party as and when necessary, not the other way around.

Yes all you can do at the moment is to hang on in there.

[anni51]

thanks Rights Fighter.

Will keep u updated

[Genuine]

Hi



Sorry to hear that your family is going through this awful time.

My partner was arrested for 'conspiracy to rape' although when he was questioned it was as if he had raped the false accuser.

Is he on bail ?
If he is on bail surely the bail sheet would state the arrest ?!?

Also RF im so shocked to hear that joint enterprise is used in rape cases- i thought it was purely for gang related murders.

Dont know if anyone read about Dane bowers being falsely accused of conspiracy to rape. Just like your son he went out with friends and one of them ended up having consensual sex. Nothing came of it later.

Hope the same for you and your family - big hugs x x

[Rights Fighter]

JE can be anything where people have conspired to commit a criminal offence...... and of course that often does happen.

We hear about gangs of boys and/or girls who go out with the intention of getting drunk and causing all sorts of bother, some of it extremely serious bother. Sometimes it's for violence and murder (which is what we hear about most of the time) but there have been cases of conspiracy to rape / JE; fraud and other offences.

[anni51]

thanks for your kind words Genuine. Yes on bail but when he spoken with the solicitor yesterday he was informed that he didnt have a charge, just helping police with their enquiries.

Back to the waiting game....

[AmandaF]

Sending big hugs your way- not much else I can do to help really!! Hopefully you will have good news sooner other than later

[anni51]

Thanks Amanda x

[jittery]

hi

thanks for your kind words Genuine. Yes on bail but when he spoken with the solicitor yesterday he was informed that he didnt have a charge, just helping police with their enquiries.

Back to the waiting game....

All the best, here's a hug, wish I could do more

Stay strong!