As he is out of prison and served his time he cannot be ordered a retrial unless the law has changed.

Appeals can also be found on technicalities from the Judge's Summing Up. These include misdirections to the jury, failing to direct the jury, misleading the jury and confusing the jury. I don't suppose you have a copy of the JSU? You can order one from the Court Transcribers (ring the Crown Court where the trial was heard to find out who the transcribers for that court are). Ring the transcribers and ask for a quote. You will need to have the date of conviction and the trial reference number to hand.

This can cost anything from ?100 upwards. Usually around ?250 + depending on how long he went on for.

RF

hello saffron i have just read of ur plight my son is in the same situation he has just done four years after being falsely accused of attempted rape he was only 16 at the time of his arrest, as for the appeal a group u might want to write to is the HAAP (historical abuse appeals panel) they are dealing with my sons appeal if you write to them they are in doncaster and will tell you if you have any chance of an appeal.

Tell your husband to keep his chin up there is always a light at the end of a tunnel i feel like my son i have been to heel and back but i cann finally see the end of the tunnel for him.

regards

sue

hiya Rights Fighter as Val Vallender mentioned to u about the tracking devices for mobiles.

The minute my son came out of prison last november i bought him a new mobile and had a tracking system added to it the system is TraceaMobile and it cost ?60 a year and covers upto 5 mobiles, every month u get a txt from them telling u it is still active for your peace of mind.

Your are given 10 credits u can buy more if u want to but what it does is you use the credits like if u was told by the police you was in one place the tracker will pinpoint where u really was.

All my family's mobiles are covered and each has its own security number and you are give a telephone number also if u have any problems or need to cancel a phone on the system.

I did this to protect my son as i was told the police can trump up charges and i did not want that to happen to him.

Hipe this is of some help to u.

regards

sue

hi sue that sounds like a great idea but just out of intrest does your son feel like you don't trust him, or is it that he is so scared its his only way of staying safe from accusations? i'm just wondering because i have 3 lads and i wouldn't want any of my lads to go through what shane went through, i stil have a fear of this happening again all the time, i worry continuosly that someone else will do it to one off them x

Thanks RF

The judge spent 45 minutes summing up, and I actually thought he was very fair. Our barrister also said he was fair. The prosecution said they wanted a sentence of 3 years and for him to be on the SOR. The judge ordered a closed court, and told our barrister the following:

That he did not believe the jury had fully considered all the evidence.
That in his opinion the amount of alcohol consumed alone was enough to give reasonable doubt.
That the complainant has behaved unwisely by getting undressed and into bed in front of my husband.
That he had no doubt my husband was a hardworking family man and that having never been in trouble with the police before, he was a man of previously good character, and therefore he would not be placed on the SOR.

I really believe that our is a case of the jury not actually listening to the judge or any of the evidence. It was 2pm on a Friday when they returned their verdict - I wonder how many of them simply wanted an early finish?

It is interesting to note that as he has served his time a retrial could not be ordered.

Thanks for your comments.

Saffron, would you be happy for Val to quote what you've said about the jury in his letter? This could back up the idea that the jurors ought to write down accounts of how they reached their verdicts, and that someone ought to scrutinize the jurors' accounts and point out holes in their arguments and tell them to go back and reconsider if they think there is something very wrong. It would also back up the point because it demonstrates the need for juries to think about their decisions responsibly rather than perhaps just coming to a quick decision because they want to get away. If they have to give an account of their deliberations, they're hopefully more likely to think carefully.

Hi Saffron,
Sounds like you've been through a hell of a time...Have been reading your posts for a few weeks since I joined the board, and kudos to you for managing to sound so together while going through something that must be nothing short of horrendous...I don't post this reply to belittle that in anyway, or to pretend that I know what has happened, but I did want to comment on a couple of the things that the judge said to you:

1. Although it was arguably unwise of me to have done so with hinsight, I was watching a film under the duvet of the bed of the man who raped me. Had I not been there, who knows if it may have happened. Nonetheless, this fact should have nothing to do with the fact that I was raped in this situation, perhaps? I had been there many times before perfectly comfortably and nothing had happened, so I had no reason to believe myself unsafe. Being in his bed in my opinion does not give him the green light to do what he did.
2. Though I comment on your husband in no way, as I believe you to be a far better judge of that than me, respectable hardworking men with no previous convictions are surely equally capable of rape...am I wrong? My rapist has several convictions for drinking related offences at the moment so I can't comment on this from experience. But even though we can draw patterns and group together the likely characteristics of a rapist, surely we cannot say that a particular person is unlikely to be guilty or innocent just because of a reputation or outward appearance?

As I say Saffron, I hope you don't take these to be comments about your husband or the case that was brought against him, since I don't know about it. I was just interested by these comments of the judge, since they seem to echo certain beliefs and prejudices that I am worried will affect my own case. Am I wrong? What do you/others think?

Stacey xx

Hi Diana

Yes, I am more than happy for val to include it in his letter. I agree with you!

Saffron

Hi Stacey

No offence taken. As you rightly say, you do not know my husband, and you do not know the ins and outs of the case.

I think the situation you found yourself in was slightly different. You state that you had been under the duvet of your attacker many times before, so presumably he was a friend of yours? You had no reason to suspect you might not be safe. My husband's accuser had met him only once before she undressed, got into bed naked and invited him to stay with her.

The main difference between your ordeal and her claims are that she is a liar, and you are not.

The comments the judge made were at "closed court" after sentencing. This means that what he said cannot be reported in the press, and the jury did not hear what he said. he made those comments after the verdict had been returned.

I do understand that you are concerned about prejudices and stereotyping, but consider this: The jury will almost certainly be more sympathetic to you than your attacker. They will walk into the courtroom with the belief that you must be telling the truth otherwise you wouldn't be there. In many cases the jury are simply asked to decide whose version of events they believe. And it is almost certain that they will believe you.

I wish you every success in your case, and hope that you will post here again to let us know how you are getting on.

Saffron xx

Saffron,
Yes you are right, my attacker was one of my closest friends. Given what you say about the complainant, it does indeed sound like unwise behaviour. I hope you are right that my case will be successful!! I will try keep things updated on here, I suppose I will make a good live case study, as it were. I suppose whatever happens I am safe in the knowledge that I will do everything I can to see justice done for what happened to me. I can't imagine how horrendous it must be to be falsely accused in that way. You all must have been sickened. I suppose it's women like her that hamper cases like mine...
Stace x

Exactly Stacey.

sickening is right, for two reasons:

The feeling of injustice and horror at being falsely accused of something, and then the jury actually believing the lies that have been told.
The fact that false accusers undermine all the courage and strength of genuine survivors, and sow the seed of doubt about the women (and men) who have suffered such a hideous ordeal.

This site is not just for people who have been falsely accused, but also offers support and guidance for the victims. Part of the reason why falsely accused people feel such despair is that they find rape an abhorrent crime, and therefore tend to be very supportive to real survivors. If there is anything I can do to support you, please let me know. Having been through the court process already, I may be able to reassure you about a few things.

Keep up the fight x

Thank you very much No doubt once it all gets going I will posting on here every twenty seconds for advice.... I do worry about what will be thought of my situation, as it's really one of those 'my word against yours' situations so I guess it will largely be a case of convincing a jury, and it may go either way. At the moment he is still being questioned though, so I am a few steps ahead of myself!!

hi stacey don't give up keep your self going by thinking im going to put this b....d away and for a very long time what you need to do when you are in court is look straight at jury and let them no you are telling the truth you will have plenty of support on here so when you need a chat or advice just shout anyone on here will help you good luck , i wont be on the board till after next wk im going back into hospital for another op but will catch up with the post when i'm well again xoxoxo

That's good to know Maria! I hope your op all goes well for you

Hi Ladies:

Maria, best of luck with the treatment, please let me know how you get on. When you are feeling better please let me know if I can be of any help, via JGC, with your sons issues.

All and Sundry ; Stacy could do a lot worse than talk with Snoopy should we send her a message and ask her for her help with this one, also Angel might be able to offer some relevent advice on this score.

I suppose such a request should come from the person who knows Snoppy and Angel the best. I get on with angel and will ask her but could we come up with someone to contact Snoops?


Regards


Val