Advice needed Liberation attempted rape accusation Scotland

[Wronglyaccused2016]

Hi folks,

Been on this site a few months now reading the positive and not so positive comments and threads and thus far not seen a case like mine, so I'm hoping that by posting this I may get some sort of answer.

I'll try to be brief but unfortunately mines doesnt look like any normal case.

Basically I got arrested and interviewed by the police for an attempted rape. I got a solicitor to represent me who advised me to to take the "no comment stance" to avoid corroboration.
I spent 36 hours in Police custody to be formally charged and attend the court.

The story is that allegedly a girl whom I had met on a night out claimed that I had raped her the following morning. I was traced using my dna as they had found my sperm on her back!
They could not prove that penetration had taken place and no other abnormal marks or lesions where found on her. Therefore the charge was reduced to attempted rape.

My side of the story is straightforward, met a girl on a night out, both consenting adults, we didnt have sex when we arrived home but in the morning we had a fumble under the covers and not much else.
As far as I am concerned this woman has falsely accused me of something I did not do.

Now this is the interesting part and the part that has me sick with worry.
I attended the court, spent most of the day in the holding cells, I then got a letter that said I was being liberated, and was duelly let go without stepping foot into a courtroom.

This was 4/5months ago. There was no bail nor any court set conditions basically I was told that was it after enduring the worst 36 hours of my life!

My solicitor didnt find this info out until the end of the court day and called to advise that although I was liberated that Police may re-open case and come for me again.
At the moment it is the only thing I can think about. Does anyone know how the procedure goes and if there is a timescale from when I would hear about this?

One more point is that my solicitor said that the police have ALL the evidence they could gather in this case and there is nothing else they could use against me.

Thank you for reading, any replies would be appreciated.

[Rights Fighter]

"No-comment" interviews are NOT done to avoid corroboration. This is usually advised if the police offer little or no disclosure (information about the allegation).

Your case is no different to many others on here. People are usually bailed - sometimes without conditions.

Sometimes complainants want a review of the NFA - it's not that unusual these days. Just hold on in there

[Wronglyaccused2016]

Thank you very much for your reply.

I may have misunderstood why my solicitor chose the 'no comment' approach. I was led to believe that it would give the police no cause for corroboration.

The thing is that I was not bailed, it was liberation due to insufficient evidence. My solicitor confirmed this but said it may be re-visited by the procurator fiscal at a later date but could not confirm is this would definately happen or not.

Thanks again

[Rights Fighter]

Sorry - so you were NFA'd - I'm in the middle of an appeal and my brain is fried..... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Complainants can ask for a review of the NFA but usually there has to be fresh compelling evidence, so unless she's got somebody to say they witnessed something or she told them immediately afterwards it's unlikely to go anywhere.....hope not anyway.....

[lawlessone2009]

It sounds as if you have had a VERY narrow escape.

I am not aware of any appeals cases in the courts just now that could have a bearing on the probablity of the case against you being re-raised.

A 'no comment' interview appears to have been solid advice and could potentially have saved you from a court case.

As for the future. This complaint will remain 'on file' and should you come to the attention of the authorities again (on sexual allegations) they will have no hesitation in reviewing it and potentially using it as part of a corroboration approach to charging. Don't go jumping into bed with strange/unknown women and avoid mixing alcohol with sex.

[Rights Fighter]

It sounds as if you have had a VERY narrow escape.

I am not aware of any appeals cases in the courts just now that could have a bearing on the probablity of the case against you being re-raised.

A 'no comment' interview appears to have been solid advice and could potentially have saved you from a court case.

As for the future. This complaint will remain 'on file' and should you come to the attention of the authorities again (on sexual allegations) they will have no hesitation in reviewing it and potentially using it as part of a corroboration approach to charging. Don't go jumping into bed with strange/unknown women and avoid mixing alcohol with sex.

Excellent advice.

[Tux109]

Hi folks,

Been on this site a few months now reading the positive and not so positive comments and threads and thus far not seen a case like mine, so I'm hoping that by posting this I may get some sort of answer.

I'll try to be brief but unfortunately mines doesnt look like any normal case.

Basically I got arrested and interviewed by the police for an attempted rape. I got a solicitor to represent me who advised me to to take the "no comment stance" to avoid corroboration.
I spent 36 hours in Police custody to be formally charged and attend the court.

The story is that allegedly a girl whom I had met on a night out claimed that I had raped her the following morning. I was traced using my dna as they had found my sperm on her back!
They could not prove that penetration had taken place and no other abnormal marks or lesions where found on her. Therefore the charge was reduced to attempted rape.

My side of the story is straightforward, met a girl on a night out, both consenting adults, we didnt have sex when we arrived home but in the morning we had a fumble under the covers and not much else.
As far as I am concerned this woman has falsely accused me of something I did not do.

Now this is the interesting part and the part that has me sick with worry.
I attended the court, spent most of the day in the holding cells, I then got a letter that said I was being liberated, and was duelly let go without stepping foot into a courtroom.

This was 4/5months ago. There was no bail nor any court set conditions basically I was told that was it after enduring the worst 36 hours of my life!

My solicitor didnt find this info out until the end of the court day and called to advise that although I was liberated that Police may re-open case and come for me again.
At the moment it is the only thing I can think about. Does anyone know how the procedure goes and if there is a timescale from when I would hear about this?

One more point is that my solicitor said that the police have ALL the evidence they could gather in this case and there is nothing else they could use against me.

Thank you for reading, any replies would be appreciated.

Out of curiosity, how long was it between the night in question and arrest?

[Wronglyaccused2016]

it was exactly one month!!!

[Wronglyaccused2016]

lesson learned!!

Thank you for your advice, it's not been easy but I most deffo wont be going home with anyone again!!



QUOTE=lawlessone2009;65218]It sounds as if you have had a VERY narrow escape.

I am not aware of any appeals cases in the courts just now that could have a bearing on the probablity of the case against you being re-raised.

A 'no comment' interview appears to have been solid advice and could potentially have saved you from a court case.

As for the future. This complaint will remain 'on file' and should you come to the attention of the authorities again (on sexual allegations) they will have no hesitation in reviewing it and potentially using it as part of a corroboration approach to charging. Don't go jumping into bed with strange/unknown women and avoid mixing alcohol with sex.[/QUOTE]

[WorriedfromScotland]

My son had a similar experience, the case wasn't heard & he was released with 'PF Lib' written where the case number should be shown. My understanding of this is that there was no evidence & the PF doubted the credibility of both the accuser & her witnesses. However, this doesn't mean we're out of the woods as the case will be allowed to proceed IF she manages to gather new evidence.

I can't help but feel there's a terrible imbalance of the law here. I would be the first to agree that rape is a terrible crime & the law must reflect this. But the amount of women who falsely accuse innocent men for any number of reasons should be a cause of grave concern to the justice system.

Do men really need to get women to sign a declaration of compliance before having sex? Should they continue to ensure that it is consensual throughout? How can a man actually safeguard himself against an accusation of rape?

The damage that's being done to men is incalculable & we need to address it urgently before more lives are ruined.

[bonbon]

I would never go down the route of "no comment", you would be better off putting in a written statement than a "no comment", what you say to the police is presented to the jury during deliberation, so you want to make damn sure that if you didn't do it you say you didn't.

[Rights Fighter]

Absolutely. Unless you have been given clear legal advice and the duty has made it clear why he has advised "no comment" then it should not be used against you at trial.

In most trials the def's police interview is read out between the OIC and the prosecutor. The jury can then take the transcript in with them while they deliberate. If it is all "no comment" then that won't help the jury believe in your innocence, unless there is a clear statement, which is basically answering the questions in a statemented form.

[Wronglyaccused2016]

Absolutely, this pf liberation is a tricky subject and leaves you waiting and guessing.
As for having a one night stand or anything innocent again!

My son had a similar experience, the case wasn't heard & he was released with 'PF Lib' written where the case number should be shown. My understanding of this is that there was no evidence & the PF doubted the credibility of both the accuser & her witnesses. However, this doesn't mean we're out of the woods as the case will be allowed to proceed IF she manages to gather new evidence.

I can't help but feel there's a terrible imbalance of the law here. I would be the first to agree that rape is a terrible crime & the law must reflect this. But the amount of women who falsely accuse innocent men for any number of reasons should be a cause of grave concern to the justice system.

Do men really need to get women to sign a declaration of compliance before having sex? Should they continue to ensure that it is consensual throughout? How can a man actually safeguard himself against an accusation of rape?

The damage that's being done to men is incalculable & we need to address it urgently before more lives are ruined.

[lawlessone2009]

I initially answered all questions put to me.

When I had finally met my solicitor he advised me to go 'no comment' to any further questioning and make it clear that he had advised me such.

I had already answered all questions... The next wave of questions was to be a re-run of the initial questioning in the hopes of catching me out. His advice was absolutely spot on.

If the solicitor advises 'no comment' then the jury should be made aware that the accused was advised to answer all questions put to them as such. It removes the guilty implications, not that they actually really exist beyond what folks are led to believe, wrongly.

Every circumstance is different. Seek legal advice, listen to that advice and act as you see fit.