SHOCKING COURT CASE BACKLOG IS PROLONGING VICTIMS’ MISERY I’ve waited two years for rape justice
Sex trials hit by ‘heartbreaking 1,020-day wait’
MANY rape survivors wait nearly three years for justice, figures reveal.
In the nine months to September 2021, cases typically took 1,020 days from the offence to trial completion – up 212 days since 2019.
Ministry of Justice figures show 576 survivors had cases outstanding for more than a year, compared to 84 the year before.
The shocking figures come after the Home Office revealed a sharp drop in prosecutions, with only 1.3% of rape cases now being taken to court.
Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry said: “It is atrocious enough that a survivor of rape only has a 1 in 77 chance of seeing their rapist prosecuted, but it is astounding that survivors are having to wait years for their trials to conclude.
“Every day hurts the chances of a successful prosecution, with too many victims robbed of justice and perpetrators left unpunished.” The Survivors
SHOCKED Ms Thornberry
Trust said: “Survivors feel like life is on hold. They withdraw from the process as the experience is so traumatic.”
PM Boris Johnson has promised to “stop at nothing to make sure we get more rapists behind bars”.
Waits of over a year for sex assault trials are up nearly eightfold from 121 in 2019 to 947 last year. The number of crown court cases more than a year old soared to 13,202 last autumn, up from 2,393 in 2019.
An MoJ spokesman said: “We are overhauling our entire response to rape and boosting funding for support
services to £185million.”
EXCLUSIVE TORMENTED Juliana Terlizzi waited almost two years for justice while her rapist was able to walk free and search for other women on a dating app.
BY
BEN GRIFFITHS
Chef Juliana, 34, was betrayed by a courts system where delays and backlogs pushed back her attacker’s trial date time and time again.
She was terrified to leave her home while he was on the loose and ended up quitting her job.
Her nightmare ended a month ago when her depraved ex Hubert Greliak – who drugged her with ketamine and assaulted her as she slept – was found guilty of rape.
The verdict came 706 days after the assault. But Juliana is not alone and a Sunday Mirror probe reveals some face even longer delays.
Brazilian-born Juliana says: “The system made me feel like a suspect for two years. I felt unprotected and unsupported.
“I didn’t leave my flat for eight months because my abuser was on bail. I made the horrifying discovery he still had a Tinder profile just weeks before the trial.
“Friends and family kept saying
‘move country, the court system is broken, you’re not safe in the
UK’. But I had to get justice.
“I have PTSD, suffered depression, anxiety and barely want to leave the house because of what I suffered with the backlog of cases. This government’s handling of criminal justice has left victims like me and many others living in fear.”
Juliana reported psychology graduate Greliak, 33, in March 2020 after he showed her a video of him abusing her as she slept.
DUPED
She has waived anonymity to highlight the backlogs scandal.
And she reveals how Greliak was allowed bail four times and duped the courts into extending his curfew by saying he was working at the Royal Albert Hall, London. In truth, he was suspended. Last month, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab extended magistrates’ sentencing powers from six to 12 months to ease a 54,000-case logjam in the UK’s crown courts.
But with some trials postponed to 2025, Juliana’s lawyer, Chris Daw QC, says the move is just “shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic”.
Juliana – a Cordon Bleu-trained chef – met Greliak in a pub in Soho in September 2018. She says: “I liked the fact he played piano and worked at the Royal Albert Hall as an usher. There was nothing initially to suggest something very bad would go wrong.” He moved into her home in Ealing, West London, in December 2019.
But on February 1, 2020, Juliana – who owned her own travel and food firm before the ordeal – made a discovery that tore her life apart.
She explains: “One morning I woke and was tied up by the wrists. I had no memory of what occurred.
“I asked him to untie me. He laughed and told me he had had sex with me in my sleep and he had it on camera. He even videoed me watching it to get my reaction.”
At first she was so shocked she couldn’t process what had happened. “It must’ve been a coping mechanism,” she says.
Weeks later, Juliana realised Greliak had raided £300 from her account. The breach of trust made her question the sex episode.
She says: “A lightbulb went off in my head. It was the theft, strangely, that made me think ‘that was rape’. It kicked me into gear and made me tell police I had been raped.”
Juliana handed chilling videos to officers on March 6 – International Women’s Day. “I felt relieved I had done it,” she says. I thought because of the severity of the rape and the evidence of the videos, the case would take months or, at most, a year. How wrong I was.”
Greliak was in custody until April 21, then bailed – despite a judge hearing Juliana “feared for her life” if he was at large. Juliana was horrified. She says: “I couldn’t believe it. I went into panic and shock. I wrote to the judge, contacted the CPS and the police to express my outrage. My attacker was back on the streets and was free to potentially attack another woman.”
In August 2020 Juliana was told the earliest trial date was March 2021. It was a crushing blow.
She adds: “I felt like I had no protection. I would get shopping delivered and just hid away. I had to quit my work my mental health was so bad.
“I shut my life down. I felt I was being gaslighted by police and the justice system – no one was stopping Greliak coming after me.”
In December 2020, Greliak was found to have been missing from his bail address since August. He was arrested and bailed again. Just days later he was found to have broken his conditions again and was re-arrested.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Juliana said. “It was all my nightmares
System made me feel like a suspect for two years... I was scared to leave home JULIANA TERLIZZI ON THE TRAUMA OF COURT DELAYS
come true.” Just three days before the March trial, Greliak’s lawyers asked for Juliana’s computer to be analysed – delaying the case until at least May. Greliak was bailed.
Then the May date was delayed as the defence asked for more time. The court backlog meant the next free date was December last year.
“I was desperate,” says Juliana. My life has on hold. I remember talking to my liaison officer, saying, ‘I can’t take this’. They sent someone round to check on me because they thought I was a risk of suicide. I’d been pushed to the brink.”
More torment was to come. In
I am sharing my experience to help other victims get better support than I did... BRAVE JULIANA ON RAISING AWARENESS TO TRIAL BACKLOG
November Juliana saw Greliak’s profile on dating app Tinder.
She recalls: “I was sick and scared. He still had his picture, age and that he worked at the Royal Albert Hall.
“I also found a Couchsurfing account with his details on there too. I contacted the police and the CPS but nothing happened. I had to contact the companies myself.
“Couchsurfing took their profile down but Tinder didn’t – so I came off the app myself.”
Couchsurfing is a website and app where users offer a spare room or sofa for visitors and find short-term stays themselves when travelling.
Greliak’s trial at Isleworth Crown Court finally started on December 13 and ended on January 7. A jury was
shown an eight-minute video of Greliak assaulting Juliana. He was convicted of rape and sexual assault, having admitted theft and failure to disclose protected information.
He could get 15-20 years when sentenced in April. Juliana says: “Sadly, I didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing the jury find him guilty in the flesh. It was on video link. He hardly blinked at the decision. He was cold.
FEAR
“I’d been through hell and felt I’d done it alone. I was so relieved obviously but my feeling now is I fear for anyone else who goes through the justice system with a case like mine. I fear many victims will drop charges.
“I want to share my experience to promote change so victims are better supported and safe.
“Through almost two years I was treated as a suspect, despite the overwhelming evidence. I was not safe to leave my apartment and felt I was forced into house arrest. Greliak had more rights and freedom than me. If the system doesn’t take a stand to condemn serious sexual crimes, then it enables it by default.”
Justice Secretary Mr Raab has said an extra 500 cases a year will be heard by magistrates thanks to greater sentencing powers that will “deliver swifter justice and reduce backlogs”.
But Juliana’s lawyer Chris Daw says: “The problem with this cunning plan is you are much more likely to elect crown court trial, which will add to the backlog. And if given a long sentence in magistrates’ courts, you are more likely to appeal.
“And where does the appeal go? The crown court. The delay means we see lots of claimants pull out after months of trying to get to trial and defendants being allowed to go free.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We are overhauling our response to rape and boosting funding for support services to £185million. We are also recruiting 20,000 police officers, introducing new justice scorecards and increasing court capacity so victims get the justice they deserve quicker.”
The CPS said: “We know the justice process can be distressing. We focus on how best to support victims and have clear guidance for police and prosecutors on requesting information directly relevant to the case.”
Tinder said: “When anyone is reported for violent behaviour we remove and block the account. We take sexual assault with the utmost seriousness and always work with law enforcement to ensure justice.”