Rape case blunders

A JUDGE has criticised police and prosecutors after a rape case against an Oxford University student was dropped days before his trial.

Oliver Mears, 19, spent two years on bail accused of raping and assaulting a woman in July 2015.

But the CPS decided to offer no evidence against him on the basis of fresh evidence. Surrey Police has admitted “there were flaws in the investigation”. A FORMER pole-dancer has been jailed for four years after entering a suicide pact with a postman and leaving him to die alone.

Natasha Gordon backed out of the agreement with Matthew Birkinshaw, 31, on December 17 2015, by getting out of his car before he killed himself. The ex-model, 44, was described during her trial as an “enthusiastic advocate” of suicide – attempting to arrange other pacts within hours of Mr Birkinshaw’s death. But after backing out and leaving him to die, Gordon did not tell police officers who were just 450 metres away.

Royal Mail employee Mr Birkinshaw, of Walsall, West Midlands, was pronounced dead just after he was found in his Fiat Punto at Rutland Water in Oakham, Rutland.

Gordon, of Peterborough, denied having any impact on Mr Birkinshaw’s decision to take his own life, but was convicted by a jury at Leicester Crown Court in December.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb accepted Mr Birkinshaw would have more than likely taken his own life but said Gordon had influenced his decision to commit suicide and the method he chose.