Life in limbo

[Living-nightmare]

I have been visiting this forum for many months now and was hoping I would never really need to post and things just solve themselves. My partner was arrested last April and accused of raping his sister from the age of 9 to 15, which is now over 15 years ago, and his wife throughout their 10 year relationship. I have come up with many possible reasons for this rubbish but unfortunately this is just dragging on and on. My partner was given a duty solicitor at his interview and since then the communication was extremely bad and we had no advise from them whatsoever. Anything i know is basically through this forum or google. His next rebail date is in 2 weeks time which almost marks 8 month for the investigation. Does anybody have any idea for a good solicitor in the london or essex area, as i am growing more and more frustrated? At this stage will there be a decision or will my partner just get another rebail date? He hasn't been reinterviewed or had any contact from the police since April 2015 besides telling him a new rebail date.
Thank you for any sort of advice. X

[AmandaF]

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

That's a link to a page on here about recommended solicitors.
I gather he hasn't been charged yet?

It's a horrible situation to be in. Hope it gets NFA'd at the next date

[joe_3178]

Hi
So he is facing 2x complaints? I'm assuming they know each other and jointly made the accusation?

It should be possible to get an idea of where the case is at by your partner or his solicitor calling the OIC (officer in charge). They might keep details very light but at least you should be able to get a rough idea of how things are progressing

[Living-nightmare]

Thank you very much x

He hasn't been charged and i really do pray and hope every time for an NFA as there are so many things which just don't add up.

As it is an historic sexual assault case, would you have any idea how long the investigation normally takes? Phones have been taken, his mother, father, grandmother and were interviewed months ago.

He has three children from his previous reletionship and hasnt seen or spoken to them since this whole mess started we really need this to be over with some good news.

[joe_3178]

Regarding duty solicitors -others would be able to confirm- but I don't think they are likely to be able to do much to help at this stage

If you hire a private solicitor they will do much more as you're paying them however you need to consider if the cost is worth it at this stage (i think most people don't engage a private solicitor until they are charged)

[Living-nightmare]

Funny enough his sister made the first time allegations 7years ago when her relationship was breaking down. Everybody in my partner's family knew about it as well as his ex wife's family and supported him. They cut his sister entirely out of their lifes and that was it for many years. My partner ended his marriage with his wife 2 years ago and she still tried to get him back for months and months and months. However in April, the ex wife met with the sister's partner when their marrige was in crisis. He moved out and wanted a divorce. 2 days after the meeting, my partner got arrested and 9 months later his sister is expecting a 3rd child .... all coincidence? ??

[joe_3178]

Thank you very much x

He hasn't been charged and i really do pray and hope every time for an NFA as there are so many things which just don't add up.

As it is an historic sexual assault case, would you have any idea how long the investigation normally takes? Phones have been taken, his mother, father, grandmother and were interviewed months ago.

He has three children from his previous reletionship and hasnt seen or spoken to them since this whole mess started we really need this to be over with some good news.

There are quite a few members on here involved with historic cases so hopefully some of them can advise, unfortunately the police and cps really do drag these things out.

It must be really tough for you, I hope you have good friends and a good GP to rely on as well to help get you through this, and hope for some resolution soon

[Living-nightmare]

We haven't really told anybody as we fear that it will do more bad than good. As people said, you will find out who your true friends are but we don't want any additional stress with people talkinging behind our backs.

We have been very much relying on each other but all our dreams are on hold. Just to make matters worse, his ex wife has contested the divorce and it will now waste more time and money. Surely, if somebody has done such a horrible thing to you, you would want them out of your life and not argue about the fact if he is divorcing her or she is divorcing him?

[Living-nightmare]

Does anybody have any idea how long on average the investigation for an historic sexual assault takes?

[wakingnightmare]

Hi

Sorry you've found yourself here.

My Ex was arrested in the Autumn so it's still early days here, he answers bail next week for the first time. Reading other posts on here cases can take over a year before any kind of decision is made

It's very difficult as I don't really get a sense that any real investigation is taking place.

All any of us can do is try to stay strong and positive.

Best Wishes
WN x

[Jerome Goulding]

Statue of limitations

Does anybody have any idea how long on average the investigation for an historic sexual assault takes?

Plucked directly from 'Wiki':

Unlike other European countries the UK has no statute of limitations applying to serious sexual crimes.

I can sympathise with anyone in the position of being under a long term investigation. Our laws on arrest without evidence and not needing a warrant are prejudicial to any protection of the individual. Our rules on redress against any falsehood are unbelievable and the ability to arrest only on suspicion of having been involved in crime, are tyrannical and out of kilter of all other democratic countries (including the USA)

[Shah]

Afraid to say with my son it took a year and I dont think the police CPS or Sol did anything in that time and he got 6 years ( False alegations historic sex abuse ( joke, you couldnt make it up !! ).... )

You have come to the right place though for support

what Jerome put is true they dont need any evidence word of mouth seems to be enough ! you can clutch at straws as much as you like it does not make any difference.

But he may be one of the very few lucky ones who knows just this is a lot of peoples realities right now

[Rights Fighter]

We've also have members have to wait up to two years, so you really are not on your own in this. It's unlikely the duty sol will be able to get any information at all from the police. Only if/when there is a charge is when paperwork - known as "disclosure" - will start to trickle through.

Hold on in there.....

[Jerome Goulding]

Plot the plod!

I am not pompous enough to say 'I am holier than . . ' . I am someone who is very humble about his achievement and professional success, for it is quite boring to express the litany of childhood development projects which shrouded my professional life.

Given that I was arrested wrongly and without warrant or any evidence, then was detained and released on bail and finally NFA'd. Then after two police inquiries (which I dealt with on my own), three officers were disciplined and one officer was temporarily suspended; then the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police ordered that all the data about my arrest was removed from the PNC (under a very rare procedure). I then read a lot of law articles - much continuing to do so today - especially Serious Organised Crime Act 2005 and PACE (the rules governing Police Officers).

What I learned was horrifying and how naïve I was about the justice system. The police are on 'freefall' with the English character of 'fair play' now only something for the deluded! And as for justice . . . . .

Even though no evidence was bought forward, my whole life's history and every item in my life was investigated (Unless I'd left something on Mount Everest or the moon during some sleep walking!) 11 officers searched my rented accommodation in Yorkshire and an undisclosed number of officers searched my house in Devon, but there would have been more involved in the investigation in the back office. All revealing 'zero', 'nothing' and 'zilch'.

The bit that hurt was that the police have managed to destroy my a education career. Through their actions they have placed so much doubt on my integrity, honesty and trustworthiness, that I will never return to a career (I'm 56). My former career credited me with developing some of the national assessments (in higher education) for Special Needs, being one of the pioneers in creating the first special school for a specific learning issue and part of a management team employed to move a failing college from special measures to outstanding (OFSTED). Today, I would struggle to get a badly paid, temporary, zero hours contract manual job! It is only a philanthropic of father paying my mortgage and me drawing on local authority pension, that allows me to survive.

The real lessons are beached in the arrogance by the Police. Have you ever wondered why these high profile celebrities (who are in a better position to fund litigation than I) do not bother? This could be the reason. The local force who called for my arrest and have never been able to state what evidence there was to call for my arrest. My fathers philanthropy extended to many thousands of pounds of specialist barristers time. I was shocked to learn how much the police are protected from redress. To get a court to listen, we need to go to a preliminary hearing (costs money) to seize the police officers note books. All 'opinions' such as 'We believe Mr. ********* is viewing indecent images . . . ' are not seizable as they are protected by the 'Data Protection Act' (yes, that old turkey!) as they are considered as opinions. Documents can only be released if they are factual and not opinionated. To meet the rules on 'suspicion ' it could not have been anything but an opinion (that is not admissible in court!) even if they had written it down. The financial redress against the police are lodged in 'dwarf' claims, where the cost of suing is greater than any return (if you win). So any litigation would have to be highly principled and not compensation driven.

During the 'dark' early times after I had been exonerated, I had psychotherapy. During a number of counselling sessions, I presented to my therapist, the latest from the Police. It certainly exposed their lack of intellectual argument. The term police intelligence appeared several times. It is an oxymoron to put the words police and intelligence in the same sentence. I am now familiar with the entry requirement of police officers - truly worrying!!


Jerome

'When madness rules, then the absurd is not far away'

[can it get worse]

My partner's accusation was historical. He was on bail for nearly a year. I could never understand what was actually going on - and how much work they were doing to enable a decision to be made. I now think they are so overloaded with work. If they had concrete evidence, I'm sure they would have charged him by now. However, it's best not to read into anything. It is just a horrid waiting game.

Thank you JG - your post is very revealing. I am so sorry you had this torturous experience. It really is an up hill battle to recover.