Habitual accuser

[Spectrumrob]

A friend of mine e has just been convicted of a rape of a minor from 20 years ago. It has come to light that she has accused a number of others in the past and always withdrawn the complaints. The evidence that was used in the trial had more holes in it than a string vest as well as conflicting statements on the prosecution side. Is there anyway of finding these withdrawn allegations from the past or a way of forcing the police to reveal them. We need to launch an appeal and need as much fresh evidence as possible. Any pointers or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Peter1975]

I have moved your post to your own thread so answers will be in one place


(RF is our resident expert on appeals and hopefully she will see this in due course).

Hello and a sad welcome to the forum.

I'm afraid that fresh evidence, generally speaking, cannot have been available at the time of the trial. In my limited knowledge I would say that defence should have made a bad character application to submit the evidence of the complainants history and this may have been over ruled by the judge.

Your starting point is a document called the written advice on appeal from the trial barrister. If there is no "fresh" evidence (always difficult for a crime that didn't happen) then there may have been some errors in the judges summing up (JSU) or in their legal directions which the court of appeal could accept as grounds for hearing the case and deciding that the conviction is "unsafe"

See this website for a more informative and knowledgeable overview of appeals :

https://pacso.co.uk/

[Spectrumrob]

Thanks Peter. There was a very brief mention in the summing up about 1 previous allegation but a new one came to light yesterday. I don't recall a submission being made in the trial but we have applied for a full transcript so that might show it up. The problem is obtaining the info as we don't have a name as yet which is why we need to see if the police hold previous withdrawn allegations and how we would be able to get hold of them. The barrister that represented to be honest was not the most helpful or qualified to be honest. I think she had either just passed or was in the process of passing and a lot of info was not put forward by her. The one that was briefly mentioned was actually made against her father of all people. His poor girlfriend is in a massive state of distress as she now has social services breathing down her neck wanting to remove her children as she has stood by him as the accusations were only brought up following a dispute with his ex wife. The accuser was her sister.

[Franticwithworry]

Social Services get concerned that children are not being protected if anyone insists on an accused's innocence, especially if there has been a conviction.

The following 'mantra' might be useful for your son's girlfriend to use in her dealings with them. Whatever she thinks overall, she needs to demonstrate to them that she will put the welfare of the children first.


Version 1 - When you know the accuser well, e.g. a family member:
"I will never know whether the alleged abuse happened or not as only the two people involved know for sure. However, as I know both of the people very well I have looked at their characters and thought carefully about the allegations and on the whole I believe my partner/husband. However, I am keeping an open mind about this and if anybody can show me some evidence, or if the situation changes, I will reconsider my position. My number one priority is the children".

Version 2 - When you don't know the accuser well:
"I will never know whether the alleged abuse happened or not as only the two people involved know for sure. However, in the absence of any firm evidence, knowing my husband./partner as well as I do and having thought carefully about the allegations, on the whole I believe my partner/husband. However, I am keeping an open mind about this and if anybody can show me some evidence, or if the situation changes, I will reconsider my position. My number one priority is the children".

It's especially difficult when there's a conviction, but the SS work on probabilities not facts and some seem to take the view that every man is a probable rapist. Working with them without losing your sanity is essential if you're not to lose your children.

That said, some are much more reasonable than others, but if your son's girlfriend can modify what she has said to them in the light of the conviction it might help. They want to see that the children are protected and that she can be open-minded.

I'm so sorry that your son had such poor legal representation.