I don’t blame my troubled friend for crying rape... just those who put her up to it
A devastating accusation from a fellow student… and disturbing questions over a deeply f lawed justice system
THE moment Elgan Varney discovered he would not have to stand trial for rape should have been one of profound relief. After all, just three days before the trial was due last month, he was cleared of all charges after the Crown Prosecution Service decided it could offer no evidence against him.
Yet this outcome has done little to alleviate the sense of anger and betrayal at being subjected to a prosecution he says should never have happened in the first place and which has left the mature student’s life in pieces.
Where most young men in his position would dread the prospect of a court appearance, Elgan, 33, saw it as the only chance to clear his name. He had hoped to expose serious flaws not just in his own case but in the wider legal system – failings that let down both Elgan and the vulnerable young woman who accused him.
He has been left baffled as to why his life was wrecked despite a mountain of evidence in his favour – including thousands of social media messages suggesting there was no assault, information indicating his accuser had serious mental health issues, and even evidence from her computer suggesting the allegations had not only been false but that she had considered withdrawing them. ‘Two years of my life have been ruined, my career prospects have been ruined, family and friends have suffered and public money has been wasted,’ he told The Mail on Sunday.
‘I should never have been in court in the first place. The case collapsed because I am innocent.
‘When my solicitor told me there would be no trial, she was happy. But I was incredibly frustrated. I thought, finally, all the facts would come out in court and I could begin what is left of my life. But I wasn’t allowed that opportunity.’
This is by no means the first time unsupported claims have been taken seriously by the authorities, but in this case there were terrible aggravating factors – which is why, in the absence of a trial, Elgan is anxious the full truth is known.
There was the behaviour of the police, who are accused of coaxing the accusation from her, apparently determined to believe the victim. There were the actions of a friend who herself had mental health problems and whose intervention helped ensure the prosecution was brought.
But most distressingly, there was the tragic death of Hannah Stubbs, the student who claimed Elgan raped her after a brief relationship. She took her own life two years ago at the age of 22. In the words of Elgan’s barrister, his prosecution was ‘perhaps an unrivalled case study in how a false allegation can come about’.
Elgan had met Hannah in October 2014 when both were starting physiotherapy degrees at Keele University. They became part of a tight-knit group who shared a passion for rock climbing. The two quickly became friends and briefly entered into a physical relationship, though he says they were not boyfriend and girlfriend.
Elgan recalls his first impressions, describing her as ‘bubbly, talkative and a bit cheeky. She was outgoing and could be pretty forthright’.
Elgan, a keen sportsman, threw himself into university life. He played tennis, joined the running club and captained a football team. ‘Hannah wanted to join everything I wanted to,’ he says. ‘I didn’t mind.’ The pair attended lectures, socialised together and spent a lot of time at the university’s climbing wall. Most days they met with their two friends, fellow mature physiotherapy students Steven and Hazel (not their real names).
Elgan and Hannah also shared a history of anxiety and depression that had led both to drop out of earlier university courses. When she started at Keele she was taking anti-depressants and on his advice she started seeing a university counsellor.
At the end of the first term Hannah went to spend Christmas with her family. Elgan and Hannah exchanged 750 electronic messages in the days before and after.
‘Not got my grizzly bear to cuddle up to though unfortunately,’ Hannah messaged on the 27th.
‘I like falling asleep with you,’ adding a minute later: ‘I like waking up with you too though.’
It was after Elgan made it clear he did not want a relationship in February 2015 that the complaints were made. And here the story becomes complicated.
First there was a strange episode at the college climbing wall three days after the break-up, when Hannah claimed to have injured her back while play-wrestling on gym mats with fellow students.
Elgan recalls his puzzlement. ‘Everyone was making a fuss over Hannah. It seemed a complete overreaction,’ he says. ‘The trainee medics were quite hysterical.’ An ambulance was called and Hannah was taken to hospital. Elgan went with her and took pictures she later posted on Facebook of her smiling, strapped on a spinal support board.
Other students joined them at the hospital and one, James (not his real name), drove everyone home after Hannah was given the all-clear at 3am. It was in the course of that evening that Hannah made an allegation of
I cared about her. I know that I was not responsible for her death
assault, telling James that Elgan had touched her inappropriately. James messaged his friend Michelle (not her real name), who had written in a blog about being raped the previous year.
A few days later Michelle spoke to Hannah. The day after that, Elgan received a disturbing Facebook message. ‘Elgan, due to what happened last week when I came over to yours I have decided that I don’t want any contact with you,’ wrote Hannah.
‘I don’t feel like you respected me or how I feel. I had been clear with you on the phone that I didn’t want things to happen again, and yet you still went ahead.’
Had Hannah written this entirely by herself? Not according to their friend Steven, who had been present when the message was sent, as was Michelle.
Indeed, in his witness statement, he talks about the message being ‘formulated by Michelle’, saying ‘it seemed that Hannah had little input into this’.
Elsewhere in the statement he says: ‘I was shocked by this. I recall that Michelle soon became heavily involved with Hannah and seemed to have a lot of influence over her. I fully believe that [Hannah] was not raped or sexually abused by Elgan,’ he concludes.
He was not the only one to think that way. Numerous students were prepared to go to court to speak on Elgan’s behalf.
The role of Michelle was significant. She had been with Hannah when she contacted the university authorities with her allegations and it was Michelle who rang the police on Hannah’s behalf.
Hannah eventually accused Elgan of raping her on unspecified dates, once in the autumn of 2014 and again in February 2015. There was no forensic evidence of rape.
The only evidence against Elgan was in a statement made by Hannah to the police six months before her death, and even this was contradictory and bore no relationship to the allegations she originally confided to university friends.
It is also undermined by more than 10,000 Facebook and WhatsApp messages between them that have now been transcribed and analysed. Seen by The Mail on Sunday, they showed the pair continued to have an amicable relationship after the alleged rapes.
‘Not one message supports the prosecution case or Hannah’s account,’ says Elgan’s solicitor Mark Newby. ‘It is striking all their exchanges are entirely goodnatured on both sides. They reveal nothing at all untoward about Elgan’s conduct.’
As well as the two counts of rape, Elgan was also charged with an assault on February 27, 2015 – the day after he told Hannah he did not want to be in a relationship.
The following evening the pair exchanged a stream of messages, with no mention of a mild disagreement let alone sexual assault. Hannah implored Elgan to come over, clearly struggling with his decision to end their relationship.
His replies were polite and the exchange ended on good terms. ‘Have a good match tomorrow [smiley face],’ she said.
‘If the police had looked at the correspondence they could have arrived at no other conclusion than Hannah wasn’t telling the truth,’ says Mr Newby. Hannah was interviewed by the police and three weeks later Elgan was asked to attend an interview voluntarily.
He spent much of it trying to persuade officers to read the messages, but to his bemusement he was simply told ‘the tech team would be in touch’. Hannah had previously given a statement to police in which she was clearly reluctant to make any concrete allegations and repeatedly referred to her lack of faith in her own memory.
She also mentioned Michelle’s role. ‘People have said to me, like my friend Michelle... if you’ve said to them you don’t want them to, then they shouldn’t.’
She was also questioned about previous allegations of rape she had made against another man. Then came quite disastrous news. Hannah, who had spent several weeks in a mental health unit after making the accusations, hanged herself at her parents’ home in Staffordshire on August 29, 2015.
Her family has spoken of their devastating loss and she is remembered fondly by friends. The inquest into her death found she had been suffering post-traumatic stress at the time, but it was not linked to her alleged rape.
Elgan says: ‘The news of Hannah’s death made me physically sick. I cared about her. It was shocking and difficult to process. I was confused, sad and angry all at the same time.’
He was disturbed, too, by what would subsequently emerge. According to notes provided by the university to the inquest, Hannah had told her personal tutor that she had been ‘burnt out’ by her experience at a previous university and the experience had resulted in ‘a long period of mental illness during which she had suicidal thoughts’.
Also disclosed by the prosecution in the case files for the inquest was her internet search history. This included multiple searches in August 2015 on false allegations and on how to withdraw prosecutions – as well as research into the kind of personality disorders that drive such allegations.
Two weeks before her death, Hannah twice downloaded Crown Prosecution Service guidance on perverting the course of justice.
Then there is the question of how the police conducted their interview of Hannah, something which shocked Anna O’Mara, Elgan’s former solicitor, when the evidence later emerged.
‘Hanna initially was reluctant to commit herself to making an allegation against Elgan,’ she says.
‘This eventually led to the officer pointing out to her what the police would need to prove a case. It was only after Hannah had received prompts from the officer that she hesitantly developed a disjointed allegation against Elgan.’
AFTER Hannah’s death, Elgan didn’t hear from the police for six months. He was eventually charged on March 11, 2016. Anna O’Mara said: ‘I had never before seen a person charged with an offence when there existed such strong evidence pointing to his innocence.’
She repeatedly asked the CPS to reconsider the case. The judge at a preliminary hearing also urged the them to carefully consider the likelihood of a successful prosecution.
Elgan’s barrister Matt Stanbury said the failed prosecution was ‘perhaps an unrivalled case study in how a false allegation can come about’, adding that Hannah’s ‘reluctance to complain was mistaken for a misplaced loyalty; her vulnerability mistaken for victimhood.’
Elgan remains angry at the police and the CPS for pursuing its case despite the weight of evidence pointing to his innocence.
He says: ‘But no matter what the evidence shows, the sad thing is Hannah took her life. As someone who only ever cared about her I would like to send my sincere condolences to her family.
‘I always treated Hannah in a respectful way. I know that I was not responsible for her death.
‘Except in the most exceptional circumstances, there needs to be anonymity for anyone accused of rape. I want to get on with my life. But you can’t move forward when the fact that you have been accused is one click away on Google. Being cleared is not enough.’
A spokesman for the CPS said: “The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a jury to consider.
‘Following the receipt of new information, prosecutors were no longer satisfied that there was a realistic prospect of conviction.’
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: ‘Each and every case is different and in this instance, information and the evidence gathered was submitted to the CPS who authorised charges to be brought.’