Rape accusation in the Family Court - civil case

[Happy37]

Good afternoon everyone,

I decided to join up on here to share my experiences about being falsely accused of rape by my second wife.

It's a very, very long and convoluted story and there's a lot of background so I am not going to bore you all with the engagement, the marriage etc.

What I need is advice about what I'm looking at here and how I can deal with things going forward.

The marriage has never been consummated to date.

It remains unconsummated since we got married in November 2018; a bizarre state of affairs by anyone's "normal" standards.

This case that has been brought upon me is a civil case and it's been heard in the Family Court only.

She was granted an injunction owing to her false story of abuse.

No actual abuse happened and I haven't been accused or questioned about anything like this at the Civil Court.

My wife is determined to pursue the so-called allegation of rape which she finally presented at the Family Court hearing on the 01st of May 2019.

She is claiming that the marriage has been consummated owing to rape.

I’m saying that the marriage has not been consummated at all as no rape happened.

Consummation of the marriage is consensual between both partners.

Rape is not so can these two terms be mixed and used interchangeably?

Is the marriage indeed deemed consummated because of rape?

I don’t think it is as the two things are completely separate from each other.

Furthermore, she is now seeking legal aid to fight this ongoing civil case in the Family Court.

As far as I can see, this is so far a civil case and it has not been pursued by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service so far.

I haven't been arrested. Nor have I once had to report to the police in any shape or form about being accused of rape.

I wouldn’t have thought that she would be entitled to legal aid as she is not a UK national and it clearly states in my attached “sponsorship declaration” that she is not allowed any “recourse to public funds”.

I’ve also applied for an annulment of the marriage based on the grounds of non-consummation. I’ve also asked the Home Office to revoke her visa because we are no longer together in a relationship.

The marriage has never existed as a marriage under any address which she has lived at.

We have never lived together as a couple at that address or at my parents address at any given time for any small or longer length of time.

On reading all this, what do you all think?

Do you need any more details?

Please let me know.

I look forward to hearing some learned and interesting views from those of you who have unfortunately been through something like this; or indeed something similar.

Thanks.

Much appreciated.

[Casehardened]

Hello and welcome to the forum,

Your post brought a sense of deja vu as there is/was a forum member with a similar story (unfortunately I can't remember his username so can't check if he is still active and so might respond to you) He was convinced that the accusation had been made in order that his wife could remain in the uk without the encumbrance of having to live with him in order to do so.

I suspect you are thinking along the same lines and indeed from the government's own webpage:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic...atus-in-the-uk

Apply for settlement in your own right

If your relationship with a British citizen or someone settled in the UK has broken down because of domestic abuse you may be able to apply for settlement as a victim of domestic violence.

In light of this, the government offers the Destitute Domestic Violence concession, which provides help to victims of domestic abuse who are in a relationship in which they are financially dependent on an abusive partner, who have been admitted to the UK with leave as spouses, unmarried partners, same-sex partners or civil partners of a British citizen or a person settled in the UK.

I suspect that the rape accusation has been made because it is treated more seriously than 'mere' domestic violence (as you mentioned that this has been proven false)

I'm afraid I don't know how to advise you how to proceed, my belief is that civil proceedings in the Family Court* are stayed while the rape allegation is dealt with and the outcome for this will be determined by the CPS (my opinion only; I have no legal background) but my cynicism suggests that the rape allegation will eventually be NFA'd but your wife will get leave to stay in the UK indefinitely as compensation for her trauma, and probably at the taxpayers expense.

* The rape allegation cannot be dealt with by a Family Court, presumably the proceedings were for another matter and she raised the allegation as part of her evidence for the other matter?

[Happy37]

[QUOTE=I'm afraid I don't know how to advise you how to proceed, my belief is that civil proceedings in the Family Court* are stayed while the rape allegation is dealt with and the outcome for this will be determined by the CPS (my opinion only; I have no legal background) but my cynicism suggests that the rape allegation will eventually be NFA'd but your wife will get leave to stay in the UK indefinitely as compensation for her trauma, and probably at the taxpayers expense.

* The rape allegation cannot be dealt with by a Family Court, presumably the proceedings were for another matter and she raised the allegation as part of her evidence for the other matter?[/QUOTE]

Hello Casehardened,

Thanks for your reply.

This is why I joined up; albeit it might feel that it feels like a sense of deja vu. I wanted to get some advice from people who might have been in a similar situation.

It may be the case that the rape allegation will be or could be NFA'd but I have already told the Home Office that this marriage has broken down, we are no longer together and that I'm no longer responsible for her and her upkeep here in the UK.

I've asked them to revoke the spouse visa as I had already signed the disclosure and consent forms which they asked me to sign whilst they look into this.

So why does it feel like she will win and get to stay here as a "victim" even though she isn't a "victim".

There is no evidence whatsoever of this rape; it never happened and I haven't been arrested in connection with it.

Not even once.

So why should she be allowed to stay here even though I've withdrawn my sponsorship, my responsibility and I asked for the visa to be revoked.

The rape allegation was raised by her at the end of the Family Court proceedings after the Judge said there was nothing concrete in her arguments which she had raised.

Please bear in mind that she represented herself as she attended this hearing without any legal representation whatsoever.

There is NO other matter here apart from the civil one.

The rape allegation and story is a lie and she has made this up to be granted a stay here in the UK.

So what abut my trauma, my loss of earnings, my mental state, my mental state and what I'm going through?

What do I get for this?

Nothing?

Please advise.

Thanks.

[Peter1975]

Hello H37, welcome to the forum, although I as sorry as ever that anyone should find themselves here.

Some background here is that since the abominable Legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders act (LASPO) 2012, virtually all legal aid funding has been withdrawn except in cases of the complainant making accusations of sexual abuse or domestic violence - a short sighted recipe for disaster and encouraging false claims if ever there was!

It would seem however that your wife has left it rather late to claim rape, specifically after her other claims have been dismissed as "nothing concrete" - In a genuine case it would be much more likely this would have been mentioned at the outset I would say and perhaps she is being poorly advised** - hopefully the FC judge will see through this as a desperate attempt.

** There are some groups and individuals that "advise" people in situations such as your wife on the best way to stay in the country, rather sadly scruples don't seem to be high on their agenda.

On the other hand though, I have noted that there are some groups and individuals that help people like yourself and although I have lost my bookmarks and google seems unwilling to help very much, perhaps a little searching will yield some results.

I did stumble across this old forum that may be worth a further look:

https://www.immigrationboards.com/in...l-t248329.html

I cannot predict whether your (ex) wife will get the police involved or not but this would seem to be the next logical step in the path she has chosen so you should be prepared and line up a good criminal solicitor just in case.

You do not mention whether you have been representing yourself at the family court but the value of a good solicitor can never be overstated.

[Happy37]

I cannot predict whether your (ex) wife will get the police involved or not but this would seem to be the next logical step in the path she has chosen so you should be prepared and line up a good criminal solicitor just in case.

You do not mention whether you have been representing yourself at the family court but the value of a good solicitor can never be overstated.

Hi Peter1975,

Thanks for your welcome and reply.

I've already got a solicitor and she represented me at Court. I went prepared thanks.

God knows what's next.

[Peter1975]

I've already got a solicitor and she represented me at Court. I went prepared thanks.

God knows what's next.

I'm glad that you have legal representation, hopefully they will know how best to deal with the latest accusations in the FC.

I should add that if the accuser does contact the police, a sudden arrest is unlikely, it being far more common to be "invited" for a voluntary interview under caution these days - Make no mistake, this is no friendly chat and you should have a solicitor that is fully briefed on the facts of your case with you - it is always advised here that you have a brief timeline of events so that a solicitor can pick up these facts quickly.

Further to your plea for similar cases, I would suggest you try the accused.me.uk facebook group as they have a larger active membership - it is a closed group but a generally friendly bunch, I would suggest setting up a new email and facebook account to help preserve your anonymity.