In this week’s podcast, the abuse team discuss a mother’s quest for justice in India after her daughter was raped by her school teacher. With the help of his father, the school teacher then faked his own death and informed the authorities who issued a death certificate for him.
Despite this, the mother suspected that he was still alive as there was not a mourning period for him, which was a common practice for someone who had passed away. Despite living in poverty, the mother went to great lengths to uncover the truth, and had the death certificate revoked. This eventually led to him being prosecuted, and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The victim hasn’t attended school in 4 years and is a recluse following the trauma.
The length of time taken to investigate and prosecute child sexual abuse cases was, and remains, a matter of significant concern. Delay within the criminal justice system adds to the harm caused by the abuse itself, and can have a profound impact on victims, survivors and complainants as well as those against whom allegations have been made.
CPS UK April 2022 stats
- 3.2% increase in police referrals across all crime types, from 48,178 to 49,719
- 23.7 per cent increase in pre-charge rape referrals from the police, up from 887 to 1,097 (this includes both cases referred for early advice and requests for charging decisions)
- 4.6% increase in the volume of suspects being charged for rape, from 526 to 550
- A slight reduction in the proportion of suspects charged (out of all legal decisions) from 69.2% to 66.6%.
- 10.2% increase in the volume of rape prosecutions from 600 to 661
- 14.7% increase in the volume of convictions for rape, from 407 to 467
- 2.9 percentage point increase in the rape conviction rate from 67.8% to 70.7%
- 4.2% reduction in the volume of completed prosecutions for all crime types, from 107,327 to 102,777
- the Crown Court caseload has reduced by a further 2.6% and is now on a downward trajectory, although the number of cases remain 50% higher than pre-COVID.
The team discuss whether it is any different in this country and make a reference to David Carrick, who went on offending for so long despite complaints.
Who was David Carrick?
- Admitted to a campaign of rape and abuse of women throughout his career
- Pleaded guilty to 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape, but some are multiple-incident counts, meaning they relate to at least 85 separate offences, including at least 71 sexual offences and 48 rapes all between 2003 and 2020 whilst serving as a MET police officer
- 36 life sentences at Southwark Crown Court and told he would not be eligible to apply for parole for 30 years, by which time he will be 78.
- Met ignored eight warnings about PC David Carrick’s abusive behaviour to women
