False rape claims are shattering men’s lives
Sticking up for Ched Evans, maintaining in this column that the Welsh footballer was the victim of a miscarriage of justice, has been a horrible experience. In our witch-hunt age, if you suggest that a man jailed for rape has been unfairly demonised then you soon become guilty by association. Still, the abuse I’ve received is as nothing compared to what Evans suffered during his two and half years in jail. Life became very rough when he refused to go on a course for sex offenders. It would have been much easier to submit, but he has always maintained his innocence.
On Friday, Evans was vindicated. His conviction for rape was quashed by the Court of Appeal after it heard “fresh evidence” that made the original decision unsafe. Lady Justice Hallett announced that Evans would now be retried on the allegation of rape. For that reason, it’s not possible to comment on specifics, but I do wonder if the legal authorities have considered how a retrial will affect the young woman at its centre. She never made a complaint about Evans, merely contacting police to report a missing handbag. Then she found herself trapped on the legal conveyor belt. Like the Evans family, she has been through four years of absolute hell. There are no winners here.
I can write more fully after the retrial. For now, I will say in general there is growing cause for concern about the way the criminal justice system is handling rape. Every week seems to bring another story of a woman who has “forgotten” what happened the night before and has therefore concluded that she was raped. The latest example is that of the City lawyer Graeme Stening, who is in legal limbo after a senior barrister admitted having sex with him outside Waterloo station. The female QC accepted a criminal caution for the offence, but then complained to the police after she discovered Stening was going to trial and she might be identified. She claimed that she was too drunk to have consented so “must” have been the victim of a sexual offence.
Now, if you are at a mainline London railway station during rush hour, with your knickers around your ankles and allegedly having sex, chances are that you and your male friend are not entirely sober. Both have been reckless. Feeling hot with shame and taking responsibility for your actions comes next. Well, not any more. Now, the woman can claim that she didn’t “consent”.
Such is the ambition of the Crown Prosecution Service to increase the convictions for rape that any hapless Tom, Dick or Harry can end up in a police cell. While the number of cases being brought to court is going up, the conviction rate for rape is actually falling. That means more innocent men have been prosecuted for rape than ever before with all the stigma and trauma that implies.
The legal definition of “rape” insults and undermines the true victims of rape. It shatters the lives of blameless men.
Honestly, if this is what the CPS calls justice, we need a retrial.