Unrecorded rape claims spark fury

Sep 27 2009 by Nigel Green, Sunday Sun

He added: “It’s likely the majority of the 83 cases were classed not as rapes but as other sexual offences.

“Or they may not have been crimed as there was credible evidence to indicate an offence had not been committed.”

Paul Beasley, Northumbria’s Assistant Chief Constable, said: “Northumbria Police has always endeavoured to carry out thorough enquiries into allegations of rape and works closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to try and bring about successful prosecutions.

“We’ve been at the forefront of supporting the victims of rape and with our partners in health were among the first in the country to introduce REACH centres.

“We’ve also had considerable success in our cold-case investigation of historic undetected rapes, using the latest forensic techniques to bring offenders to justice many years after they committed the offence.

“However, we are always looking to improve, and on taking up my post in March, I was tasked by the chief constable to review all our policies and procedures around rape investigations.

“We are now introducing a dedicated rape investigation team which starts on October 1.

“We’ll be working closely with partner agencies including medical staff, support organisations and the CPS.

“Our aim is to further improve the quality of our investigations and ultimately increase the number of convictions and offenders brought to justice.”

Claire Phillipson, Director of Wearside Women in Need, praised Northumbria Police for its handling of rape allegations.

But she claimed many victims withdrew allegations because of the fear of facing their attackers in court, where a high percentage of defendants are cleared.