He explained the case against him was dropped within a week after CCTV evidence proved he was not in the area at the time of the alleged attack.
He said the false allegation has also cost him about £800 in lost work and staying in hotels while the case was being investigated.
Detective Chief Inspector Carwyn Hughes said: “Police were already investigating a number of incidents in the Kemp Town area when this allegation was made.
“As in all cases we took this report very seriously and were quick to respond.
“On launching an extensive investigation we quickly concluded that this offence did not take place…Well, I suppose a week is considered ‘quick’ in police circles…
But a pity you didn’t reach this conclusion before you’d arrested, swabbed and interrogated the poor man, eh?
… and aside from raising unnecessary anxiety and alarm, many hours were wasted that could have been put to better use investigating genuine reports of crime.”Yes. Indeed. Think of all the Twitter users you could have been arresting instead.
“I would like to stress that this will not affect in any way our response to reports of sexual offences and I would urge anyone who is a victim to contact us, even if the incident happened a while ago. ”Translation: “We don’t learn any lessons. Because we never suffer when we get these sort of things wrong.”
18 comments:
Now that 'Clare's Law' - where Police can respond to a request whether their partner has any history of causing domestic abuse - has been approved and circulated among Police forces, I trust that a similar law will come into effect where people can ask if their partners have ever made a false allegation of rape or sexual assault.
Penseivat
Where did the police get this wrong?Allegation made,investigated and dismissed.Man not charged.
As I have mentioned before Julia we are not equipped with a crystal ball like you clearly are.
Turn this headline around when a woman is genuinely attacked and we do nothing....we can't win.
Jaded
"...even if the incident happened a while ago. ”
Preferably long enough ago that CCTV didn't exist or has been wiped and long enough ago that the accused will have little chance of establishing an alibi or even remembering where they were.
PS Long enough ago and the alleged incident needn't be narrowed down to having "happened" even within a particular year.
Try establishing an alibi for that sucker.
@Jaded: Fair enough, the police have a job to do and they did it, eventually. But how come they never mention the poor sod who has been wrongly accused in all this? How come they just always trot out the usual PC b*ll*cks about how this sort of wrongful allegations makes it harder for people to come forward to report real rapes etc etc? There is a victim in this crime, and he hasn't been granted so much as a mention for he's been put through.
Evidence in a sexual attack can disapear within MINUTES.
All it takes is a bath, or to go into the shower, or even wash the hands.
This evidence must be obtained IMMEDIATELY the offence becomes apparant, or as soon as possible after.
IF it turns out to be negative, THAT is what evidence is FOR! Fer fucks sake!
I am sure, Julia, you would be the first to decry the police if he had been guilty, but they had allowed him to go and destroy evidence, so it would not even get past the desk of the lowest CPS intern.
Ok let me put it this way Jaded.
I swan in to the local nick and make a complaint that last Saturday night you bent me over my garden gate pulled down my strides, fondled my todger and rammed a nightstick up my arse.
The fact you were sat next to the inspector, 2 sgts and sundry other ranks in a van all that night, it being a particularly quiet night within view of several CCTV cameras and I without so much as a mark on me and walking with a positive spring in my step.
Right now should my complaint be taken seriously, and should you be dabbed, swabbed, sat there in a cell wearing a paper suit for hours on end, and be suspended?
You get the point I'm making here right? That before the flatfoots wade in mob handed, it might be prudent to at least verify any CCTV footage etc.
The police are damned if they do and damned if they don't. A no win situation.
XX Budvar said...
You get the point I'm making here right? That before the flatfoots wade in mob handed, it might be prudent to at least verify any CCTV footage etc.XX
For the hard of understanding, let me repeat;
XX Evidence in a sexual attack can disapear within MINUTES.
All it takes is a bath, or to go into the shower, or even wash the hands.
This evidence must be obtained IMMEDIATELY the offence becomes apparant, or as soon as possible after.
IF it turns out to be negative, THAT is what evidence is FOR! Fer fucks sake!
I am sure, Budvar, you would be the first to decry the police if he had been guilty, but they had allowed him to go and destroy evidence, so it would not even get past the desk of the lowest CPS intern. XX
Is it getting through yet?
Fuhrer, perhaps you and your lass experience sex in separate plastic bubbles or something, but when normal folk experience sex, they would normally be *BOTH* covered in each others DNA, yes or no?
No matter how much he showers/throws his clothes in the wash, or time elapsed, a quick cheek swab would corroborate one way or the other the evidence obtained by any rape kit, yes or no?
The lack of any rape kit evidence (as in this case as sex had obviously not occurred rape or otherwise) then a quick shufty at CCTV footage in the area of place and time of alleged offence (they only need to identify her in this case as others can be identified at a later date) and if there appears to be no sign of her (as in this case) and further enquiries find she was elsewhere (also as in this case) it should be obvious to any simpleton that there's something seriously wrong with the details of her complaint. Yes or no?
This all being the case, it's my contention that a crew of flatfoots dragging the guy out of bed and turning the house upside down was superfluous to requirements.
"Hello is that Mr Smith?"
"Yes,who's calling?"
"It's the police here Mr Smith.A woman has made an allegation of rape against you.Would you mind not washing your clothes and your willy for a few days whilst we investigate? And please don't leave the country in the meantime or get your mates to give you a false alibi.Thanks.Then when we are ready can you pop to the police station and answer a few questions?"
"Yes no problem".
Meanwhile back in real world.....
Jaded
FT
Normally orientated males do not appreciate 'blown kisses' and you have been frequently told your habit is more disagreeable than the customary obscenities and offensive 'shouting'. Since you would not blow kisses during a face to face conversation with most men, it is cowardly to do so behind the screen of anonymity.
Please locate the symbol for quotation marks on your keyboard, there's a good fellow. Just to point you in the right direction, it is always above the numeral 2 on English/German/Austrian keyboards.
Jaded, does MTGs assertion that you're of the fairer sex have an element of truth to it?
Reason I ask is the wife also believes she's something of a Miss Marple, and that when I come home after a night down the local having picked up a couple of stray hairs from the landlords Yorkshire terrier, it's proof positive that I've been fucking around with that ginger bitch (Oh the irony). Again.
If only she had a team of flatfoots and SOCO at her disposal to make sure I haven't time to erase the CCTV footage and to get the other 30 odd punters at the bar (including her so called friends) to back me up.
Yes Jaded, let's discuss life back in the real world shall we?
Budvar-as mentioned earlier Melvin repeats himself to the point of mind-numbing tedium until he has convinced himself he is telling the truth.I am a perfectly formed male thanks for asking.
As for the false allegations,I quite agree that the person making those allegations should also be named and shamed and prosecuted.
Jaded
Postpubescent rejection of her original feminine gender personality is consistently evident in Jaded's comments...because the indications of enculturation cannot be fully erased. Hope that makes sense, Buddy.
I rest my case,repetition and complete nonsense in one go.Thanks Melvin.
Jaded
PS-Nice day for grass-cutting today.
Sorry for being late to the party.
Dear Furor Teutonicus, you say the evidence can disappear in "MINUTES" so time was of the essence. If you'd bothered to READ THE ARTICLE, you'd see that plod tried to contact him TWO DAYS after the alleged attack. If he had done it, he would surely have washed within that time anyway. "IMMEDIATELY" had already bolted.
Dear Jaded. "...investigated and dismissed." Suppose there'd been no CCTV to clear him? There were three witnesses (if you include the cabbie) they could have talked to first. No! sod that! let's break out the latex gloves & swabs. The police are supposed to be level headed professionals...
I watch 'Columbo' on TV and it terrifies me to think that, instead of being like Peter Falks' character, real life police behave like his colleagues & follow the false 'clues' deliberately left by the real cuplrit.
XX If you'd bothered to READ THE ARTICLE,XX
I was talking in general, and not neccesarily about this case in-particular.
Dear Furor Teutonicus,
"I was talking in general, and not neccesarily about this case in-particular."
The statement below (used TWICE, once for Julia, once for Budvar)somewhat contradicts that.
"I am sure, Julia/Budvar, you would be the first to decry the police if he had been guilty, but they had allowed him to go and destroy evidence, so it would not even get past the desk of the lowest CPS intern."
"Is it getting through yet?" Oh dear.
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