Investigation of rape cases (FOI)

​Request

Regarding this Freedom of Information request (Rape Investigations):

Rape investigations (FOI)

I find it difficult to believe that the police do not hold this information. If the person who made the request has not already appealed, I would, in effect, like to do so on their behalf with some additional questions.

I would like to ask similar questions with answers provided in table form for the past five years.

A

How many allegations of rape are reported to the police annually?

B

How many lead to prosecutions?

C

How many lead to convictions?

D

How much time elapses between initial reports / complaints and suspects being charged or a decision to take no further action?

E

In cases where there is a prosecution, how much time elapses between initial report / complaint and the final disposal / conviction?

Response

In referring to the previous response, an appeal to a response can only be made by the original requester. 

Rape investigations (FOI)

The requester is advised that the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 does not require a scheduled public authority to ‘create’ information it does not already hold. The States of Jersey Police do not hold statistics on the ‘average time taken to investigate rape allegations’.

A

B and C

In 24 cases, suspects were charged and prosecuted or are awaiting trial.

Of those prosecuted:

• five cases resulted in convictions for rape

• eight cases resulted in convictions for indecent assault, unlawful sexual intercourse (USI) or incest

• four cases are still pending trail

 The annual breakdown is as follows:

2011

• eight years imprisonment for rape

• six years imprisonment for attempted rape and indecent assault

2012

• rape case withdrawn. Five years imprisonment for indecent assault

2013

• acquitted of rape. Three years imprisonment for indecent assault

2014

• case withdrawn

• imprisonment for life and notification order for 15 Years

• six years imprisonment for rape

• five years imprisonment for rape

• withdrawn (prosecution abandoned)

• acquitted

• rape allegation, charged and convicted of USI. 12 months’ imprisonment

• withdrawn (not guilty plea accepted by the Crown)

• acquitted

• rape allegation, charged with incest. 54 months imprisonment

• two suspects, rape allegation, both charged with USI (historic), both convicted. 18 months’ probation

2015

• no evidence offered (case dismissed)

• Rape not proceeded with. Six years imprisonment for indecent assault

• not guilty plea to rape accepted by the Crown. Sentenced to three years imprisonment for indecent assault and USI with a girl under 16

• no evidence offered (case dismissed)

• five years imprisonment for rape.

2016

• four cases on remand to Royal Court, court date to be fixed

Cases not prosecuted

Until August 2014, cases not prosecuted were recorded as ‘complete’ without further detail. From August 2014, the Home Office recommended a number of other scenarios to be included to better reflect the reasons cases did not proceed to court.

  *Complex historical complaint from 1977, currently with the Law Officers’ department.

In 15 cases, it was subsequently established that no offence took place or was incorrectly recorded. In two other cases, the suspect is has been identified and is sought for questioning.

D and E

The States of Jersey Police do not collate the time taken for cases to be completed. In an effort to assist the requester, cases from 2014, 2015 and 2016 have been dip sampled and researched to give an example of the time taken to investigate an allegation of rape. To do this for each and every case over the past five years would exceed the permitted time allowed to complete Freedom of Information requests.

Each case will differ and without going into detail of any individual case, in 2015 and 2016 four cases that ended with no further action took: 

Cases that went to trial in 2014 and 2015

Detective Chief Inspector, Alison Fossey comments:

“In cases involving sexual offences the States of Jersey Police have made significant efforts to improve the confidence of victims to come forward and report crimes to the police eg Operation Amber. Our guidance on investigating these allegations calls for a thorough investigation of the facts. It is the credibility of the evidence that is investigated with a focus on proving or disproving the allegation against the suspect. Where appropriate and with the support of the victim, the evidence will then be presented to the Law Officers’ Department for them to make a decision about prosecution.

The States of Jersey Police & Law Officers’ Department have committed to a rape improvement plan since 2014 in order to improve outcomes for victims and enhance performance.

We have also strengthened our partnership working in this field by supporting the work of Jersey Action Against Rape (JAAR) and the development of a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) that we hope will come on-line early in 2017.”