Matthew Steeples suggests that the way in which allegations of sexual offences are investigated in Britain needs to change
On Friday, a friend of mine answered bail in relation to a false allegation of sexual assault at a dinner in January. Today, this person was thankfully told that the matter is now closed due to there being utterly no evidence of it ever having happened but what is appalling is that the police went as far as they did.
On the evening in question, the woman concerned attended a party and then, without invitation, gatecrashed a dinner that I had organised afterwards. I did not actually meet her at the time but she subsequently told police that she had been a victim of a sexual assault in full view of her fellow diners that night. That this woman did not shout out or react in a way that was noticed by any other guest at the time is telling but what is more important is that those she named as having seen this nonsensical episode subsequently categorically stated they’d witnessed absolutely nothing untoward happen.
In the ensuing days the police made contact with the venue and hours were wasted viewing CCTV footage. No evidence resulted and that frankly should have been that. It sadly wasn’t.
My friend, who is not primarily based in Britain, was then arrested when he flew back into Heathrow on a subsequent occasion in full view of an entire planeload of fellow passengers. Though he was held for a number of hours, questioned, finger printed and bailed, his innocence is now completely without question.
The resources thrown into investigating this false allegation were not commensurate with what was presented to the police and this appalling incident provides yet more proof that the way in which the police handle such cases presently is wrong. That a powerful alleged paedophile like Lord Janner is able to get away without prosecution despite compelling evidence simply because of his connections yet an innocent, ordinary man is dragged through months of worry is nothing other than appalling. Something has to change; it truly must.
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Truly shocking . Fairness and Justice have been eclipsed from the UK ‘s standards. Crime pays , and the Police is emasculated , with its resources misallocated to pursuing non material causes/cases
This “woman” and I know who she is needs to a) arrested, b) finger printed, c) locked up, d) imprisoned and e) erased from polite society. She is a stupid fantasist who runs an “agency” and pretends to be all sorts of thing she isn’t. I hope she suffers for what she did to this poor, innocent man.
Absolutely, however the political climate is very much against this at the moment. When people are proved to have lied and the victim of their lies takes legal action, the Crown Prosecution Service take over the case in order to drop it. A real witch hunt sadly and one in which fantasists, the malicious and the greedy (they get up to £42,000 from public funds even if no charges are brought) thrive.
A lady would never make up false accusations. You are right to describe this piece of repugnant trash as a woman. I have no idea who she is but she is no lady.
This kind of behaviour is enough to make me vote UKIP!!!! There’d be none of this nonsense under Nigel Farage. This lady should be prosecuted.
Jail is too cushy for people who do this kind of thing. Off to the mental home with false accusers… Oh sorry… I forgot… Margaret Thatcher closed them all down. DISGRACE, DISGRACE, DISGRACE.
Could it be that this woman does this habitually? Gate-crashing parties to target unsuspecting guests and then frame them ? In any event, it makes all think that there is more need for strict guest list at entrance of events and private parties.
I am an acquaintance of the lady (and she is a “lady”) and I think Matthew Steeples is a disgrace to write this. I support a campaign to stop sexual violence against women and the police should not have let this matter rest. Men get away with their antics all the time and it is not funny and it is not nice.
I was there on the very evening and noticed this so called lady. She is a fantasist indeed and needs locking up pronto. So wrong that this case should get to the stage. The man in question has nothing but exemplary manners. What has happened to justice.
Lord Janner knows Michael Jackson, he is clearly a victim of fabricated malicious rumours, he is Lord and man of high moral standing. Sorry my Lord, these commoners are mad.
Something very like it happened to me too, a string of bizarre and detailed allegations from someone I hardly knew who was detained in a mental hospital. I wasn’t arrested however several other people were (he accused almost ever bachelor his family knew) but still had to fly back to Britain for a ‘voluntary’ interview. Months of appalling stress and still not over yet. This is in every sense a witch hunt fuelled by the tabloids and fed by the social work profession and no-win, no-fee lawyers. There are a lot of people in prison because a liar was ‘believed’ and they couldn’t afford a specialist lawyer. This has to change before all of us end up accused of something.
By the way, it’s all now over after 6 months of torment. The police and CPS do sometimes make the right decision and in my case concluded that the allegations were false. No chance of the accuser being prosecuted – it’s politically incorrect apparently to do so.
Please spare a thought for those who haven’t been able to establish their innocence and especially those under the media spotlight.
How false accusers can live with themselves, I’ll never know.