Rape victim faces six-year wait for justice after trial delays
Woman reported alleged crime in 2019 but has been told that defendant may not face court until 2025
Awoman is facing a five-and-ahalfyear wait for justice after the trial of her alleged rapist was delayed and then postponed hours before it was due to begin, The Telegraph can reveal.
The victim reported the alleged rape to police in September 2019 but found out last week that the defendant may now not stand trial until early 2025.
Sarah (not her real name) has accused the criminal justice system of “revictimising” her and believes the case illustrates why rape conviction rates are so poor.
While the number of rape prosecutions has improved in recent years, more than 60 per cent of complainants withdraw before their case gets to court, with delays being cited as one of the main factors.
If Sarah’s case is delayed until next year, it is believed it will be one of the longest waits for a rape case currently in the system.
The alleged attack was reported to Cleveland Police in September 2019, but it was more than three years before the suspect was charged with rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
A plea hearing took place in January last year at which the defendant pleaded not guilty, with a three-day trial set to start last week.
But the day before the case was due to get under way at Teesside Crown Court, Sarah was informed the defence barristers were busy with another matter and so the trial would have to be postponed.
Sarah has been advised not to seek counselling until the trial has concluded and has also been warned that because of the length of time it has taken to bring the case to court, the defendant might get a more lenient sentence.
Speaking from her home in the northeast of England, the woman has been left questioning whose side the justice system is on, saying it was illustrative of why so many rape victims withdraw from prosecutions before their cases get to court.
She said: “The criminal justice system has revictimised me and there is nothing I can do. The CPS say they want to improve the number of rape convictions but is it any wonder that victims walk away when it takes this long.” Sarah said she was attacked by a stranger in March 2019 and went to police in September that year to report the offence.
She said she heard very little about how the investigation was going but then in October 2022 – more than three years after going to police – was informed the suspect had been charged.
He was originally due to appear at a Magistrates’ Court on 7Nov 2022, but owing to a legal blunder, the hearing did not take place until 16 Dec of that year. The matter was then sent to the Teesside Crown Court for a plea hearing which took place in January last year.
Chronic court backlogs meant that the earliest the trial could be listed for was January this year. The hearing should have begun last Tuesday, but with just hours to go, Sarah was informed it had been postponed.
“I had prepared myself mentally and was ready to go to court and give evidence,” she explained. “It was only listed to be a short trial and I was expecting to be called on the first day, but then on Monday afternoon at about 4pm I got another phone call to say that the defence team was busy elsewhere and so they were going to have to postpone the trial.
“I was absolutely devastated, it felt like the whole system was working against me rather than to support me.”
There will now be a hearing this month when a new trial date will be decided, but Sarah said she has been warned that because of the backlogs it could only be this time next year.
She said: “We are about to pass the fifth anniversary of the day my life changed forever and I am still waiting to get justice.
“The CPS say they want to improve the number of rape convictions but is it any wonder that victims walk away when it takes this long.
“This is the whole reason that people do not come forward. I do not blame victims who do not come forward, but I am determined to fight on. If the CPS and the courts are serious about improving the number of rape convictions then they have to find a way of speeding up the system. Nobody who has not been through this can begin to understand how traumatic it is.”
A CPS spokesman said: “We understand the devastating impact delays can have on rape victims and thanks to our joint working with the police we are reducing the time taken to charge these awful crimes.
“In this case we provided Cleveland Police with a clear action plan before authorising charges of rape against the suspect so we could build the strongest possible case to put before the court.
“We are clear victims of sexual offences should never delay seeking the support they need.”
A spokesman for the local police force which investigated the case said: “Cleveland Police recognises the significant impact this type of abhorrent crime has on victims, and that any delay to the investigation can compound this.
“Officers investigating this type of crime are dealing with often complex circumstances, however, this should not lead to significant delay to bring charges and any challenges should be swiftly overcome by agencies working together as effectively as possible.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The latest figures show we are helping more victims get the justice they deserve, with more cases reaching the Crown Court and a 48 per cent increase in adult rape cases being prosecuted in the last calendar year.
“But we know much more needs to be done, which is why we are recruiting around 1,000 new judges and letting our courts run at full throttle by lifting the cap on the number of days they can sit for a third year.”
Official figures show that to the year ending June 2023 there were 68,109 rapes reported to the police in England and Wales, but in the same period just over two per cent of cases resulted in someone being charged.
In December a report by Rape Crisis revealed that the number of adult rape cases waiting to get to court had reached a record high of 2,591.
Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that at the end of September 2022 there were more than 300 Crown Court cases that remained unresolved after four years.
Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “We are still only prosecuting a small proportion of rape reports, and survivors who do see charges brought are having to wait longer than victims of any other crime type to have their case heard in court – often waiting years in limbo.
“They are often advised not to have therapy as their therapy notes may be shared with the police, lawyers and courtroom in an inappropriate attempt to discredit them.
“This leaves survivors in an impossible position.”
‘Victims are often advised not to have therapy as their notes may be shared in an attempt to discredit them’