Arrested last night, scared now.

[strugglingalong]

Hello all,

Just had the worst day of my life and would like to say thank you to everyone who has posted here before, I've read a lot of this forum in the last few hours.

I had police at my house in the morning, wasn't at home as I was on the way to work, went and surrendered for an interview where I was arrested for rape, given an interview and had my solicitor there who advised me to speak up. They gave me bits and pieces of her statement in the interview which shocked me.

They have taken my phone as evidence, this was my work phone and now struggling a little because I don't have it, although the officer said I can go and get a new SIM and block the old SIM and they would be okay with that.

I've been bailed for 2 months, I have a flight booked abroad for just after my bail date, the officer didn't seem concerned about that but I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing as they bailed me until a week before my flight.

Don't know what to do now, I feel totally lost here, really feeling quite down, in shock, and unable to sleep at all.

Cheers!

[sqounk]

Welcome to the forum. All of that sounds familiar. Firstly, are you sure you were arrested? I wasn't though thought I had been because it's such a shock when they are talking to you. In my personal view, not doing a 'no comment' is the right thing to do. I think they are quite adept at spotting genuine and non-genuine reactions and they will have been watching you for that I think. What you need to do now is to gather yourself and that is IT for today. Nothing more. You have been through a terrible shock to the system and it will take you a while to get back on your feet. When a boxer gets KO'd they don't get straight back up, they have to recover themselves before standing up. I would advise a walk or something like that; go somewhere nice and countrified if you have that around you. Or just take a breather in the garden if you have one. It'd probably take until after the weekend that you will begin to see the mist clearing.
You are probably in for a long wait I'm afraid. Expect at least 6 months which was true for me and seems to be the minimum standard. Search for any evidence you can regarding this person. It can be social media postings or anything like that - be careful to NOT CONTACT the person or any potential witnesses. If they contact you inform your solicitor immediately. Do a timeline of events. If it is historical, you might want to look at legislation if it's pre-April 2003 as the law changed at this point. There is LOTS of advice available here and a very caring community of people who've been in similar circumstances. Don't forget that unless there is overwhelming evidence that cannot be disputed, it is unlikely you will be convicted, even if you are prosecuted as the jury have to been beyond any reasonable doubt. In my case the police saw through the complainant and more or less admitted that to me when I was NFA'd. In the meantime, you are in for the long haul and you have to batten down the hatches and sail through it. It will be terrible at times, but you will get used to the ups and downs. When you've got your sea legs, you will be able to cope even though it is very difficult.

[strugglingalong]

Hey there,

Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it.

I was definitely arrested and given my rights at the station, they arrested me and kept me in a cell, the custody sergeant explained that I was arrested but not charged. They then put me on police bail until May.

I'm at work and using this time at work to keep my mind off the situation. It's historical but only 16 months old so all current legislation applies.

Just trying to keep my head up.

Cheers!

[Franticwithworry]

Hello there. I'm so sorry you've had to find us but glad that you did. First and foremost, don't worry too much in the next few days about what you have to do next. The most important thing to do is to recover your equilibrium, or what you can of it, and that takes time.

When you've had a few days to digest this trauma, you could do a couple of things, though I'm sure you've seen this elsewhere on the forum - write down as much as you can remember about the complainant and the incident, keep it in a safe place and give it to no-one yet, and think about finding a specialist solicitor who will act for you if the worst happens. You need someone with experience of false accusations and there are recommendations on here for private and legal aid experts. There's no rush on that though. You've been bailed and will likely be bailed again. Some find it reassuring to talk to a solicitor who can outline the process and it's good to know whom you will call if needs be without having to scrabble around in a hurry and panic.

That said, there is a good to high possibility that no further action will be taken. Most false allegations are seen for what they are, but you need to be aware of the possibilities in case common sense is in short supply.

I hope the police treated you respectfully, not all do. The next few weeks/months will be something if a roller coaster. Be kind to yourself, keep busy and confide in someone in real life if you can. We are here to support you too for as much and as long as you need. I'm sure others will say 'hi' too and offer snippets of advice and support.

Hang in there. It's a truly traumatic experience, but you WILL survive it.

[Peter1975]

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear of yet another false allegation, please don't panic.

I can't add to the excellent advice already given but I will add my support.

Strap yourself in for an emotionally bumpy ride, there is every hope that this will go no further but as we say here, you must prepare for the worst.

The importance of taking screenshots of social media cannot be overstated. Stalk her friends pages too if you can, get the date and time in the screenshot and keep them safe just in case. Even innocuous looking posts showing her out living it up could undermine her credibility if it later turns out she is claiming that the fictitious rape has stopped her from going out. Get someone you trust to do this for you if it will be too upsetting to look at their page.

Look after yourself and try to keep busy.

[Rights Fighter]

As Peter says "don't panic" - easy for us to say I know. One of the members on here got his NG verdicts in five minutes straight after lunch - today! Choice of defence team is absolutely paramount!

We do have other success stories in this group in the last few weeks.

[strugglingalong]

Thank you all,

I'm trying my best to stay busy and am lucky to have the support of my family and one or two close trusted friends.

I will take a look but I have blocked her and any mutual friends on all social media (I did this shortly after we broke up) so I'm unsure how much I'll be able to get. From her statement that they read to me it doesn't appear she is claiming anything like that but I guess I should just get anything and everything.

I'm also going to write down my version of things, luckily during the interview, my solicitor (solicitor who has worked for my father before) took a lot of notes and has those as well which was good.

This is all just so scary and hard to process right now.

Cheers!

[Rights Fighter]

Great idea! Start now - make a journal from when you met, behaviour etc etc up to the incident in question.....

[Bob1234]

Hey there...
sorry to hear what happened to you as I find my self in a similar situation... and know how you are feeling. Ah the minute everything will be like :/ but as you said write all notes and events down!

Similarly I had my phone taken off me and kept. However wasn't told if I could transfer number over etc so I just got a new phone but only gave the number to a select few people. If it's a work device then I'm sure u can do a number transfer.

I went to see a councillor as it helped me, as I was also getting anxious with work. Workload, family and stigma issues. But the main thing to remember so far is you haven't been charged.

Have a read through this forum even more and listen to the advice on here... it has done me a world of good and without it I don't know what I would do.

Keep posting also... my. Bail date is in 2 months or so and one thing that did frustrate me when reading threads on here was ... people starting off but never coming back as I would have liked to have read how their story played out... but I can understand reasons for this also.

[SethRogenEnthusiast]

I've never had the law side of any of this. I sincerely hope you get past all of this.

[Youngscared]

I'm also in exactly the same position! Was arrested start of February on suspicion of rape at 5am. I was interviewed under caution put in a cell for about 8 hours and released on police bail. They took my phone but gave it back to me when I was bailed! Also seized all my clothing from the night.

I was told by multiple police custody officers not to worry, it's only an accusation and 80% of these end up in an NFA. My solicitor also told me the same. Hang in here and keep yourself occupied! I told my probation officer about my arrest and she was gutted! I'm 3 months shy of my probation order finishing for a fight I had back in 2014.

I gave a short statement in interview explaining everything and that I had consensual sex with the more then willing girl and then answered no comment to everything else (as advised by my solicitor).

Bail is in 3 weeks even though I'm absolutely innocent I'm very nervous about being sent to court for this accusation.

I'll keep you posted man and let you know how it goes, seems my case is abit ahead of yours in the process so any questions just ask me I'll let you know!

[strugglingalong]

Hey all,

Thank you for posting, I've spent the last few days keeping myself occupied with work and home life. I will keep everyone updated about my progress however with bail set until May I will not have any real progress to speak of until then.

My mental state is alright for now, but I can see myself slowly withdrawing, I'm being very careful and have asked my family to seek professional advice at any time when and if they see me deteriorate.

They've kept my phone so far for a few days, I've transferred the number as advised by the interviewing officer.

@Youngscared -- I really appreciate it, you look like you're slightly ahead of me so keep us posted as well, we're all hoping it turns out well for you as well mate.

Cheers!

[Bob1234]

Young scared and struggling to cope... we shall keep each other up to date and help each other out as we are in similar situations and date ranges. We shall get though this! (I'm having a positive day!)

[Rights Fighter]

No worries. Personally I am rather worried about Strugglingalong. Hope he is ok

[Rights Fighter]

I am still worried about "Strugglingalong". Is anybody in PM contact with him? Is he ok?