Retired lecturer given hope in compensation bid over 1965 rape

A retired lecturer has won a court battle against civil servants who ruled she couldn’t receive criminal injuries compensation because she took 48 years to report rape claims to police.

The woman, who hasn’t been identified, gave birth to a boy after she was allegedly raped by a man in a “small religious community” in 1965.

The woman didn’t contact detectives about what happened to her because she was “deeply ashamed and upset”.

She also lost her “independence, her confidence and her self-esteem” over the attack.

But after becoming aware of Operation Yewtree – the police investigation into disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile – the woman became confident that detectives treated rape victims with respect.

The woman then contacted police in 2013 and officers arrested her alleged attacker soon afterwards. DNA tests also confirmed the man fathered the woman’s son.

However, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority refused to give the woman any compensation because she didn’t report the alleged attack within two years of it being committed.

Rules permitted by the board state that victims have to report the crime which they have been subjected to within that time period.

The woman appealed to a special appeal tribunal who upheld the authority’s decision prompting her to instruct lawyers to go to the Court of Session, Scotland’s highest civil court.

The woman’s legal team asked judge Lord Glennie to quash the tribunal’s decision.

In a written judgment issued yesterday, Lord Glennie ruled in favour of the woman.

He ordered the case be sent back to a newly constituted appeal tribunal who will consider the woman’s claim afresh.

He concluded that the authority did not do enough to consider that the attitudes of society in 1965 prevented such women coming forward to report their crimes within a short time period.