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Metropolitan police's handling of rape allegations to be reviewed Metropolitan police's handling of rape allegations to be reviewed
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Scotland Yard commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has announced an independent review into the way the Metropolitan police investigate rape allegations and how cases are prosecuted in the courts. The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, has said an "unconscious bias" among officers could be blighting rape cases as he launched an independent review hoping to stop a repeat of "awful" failings.
The review comes amid sustained concern about the failure to bring enough sexual violence offenders to justice and after a series of scandals hit the Metover its handling of rape cases. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said more than 80% of rape and sexual violence victims did not trust the system enough to come forward after being attacked.
The review will be conducted by Dame Elish Angiolini and will be published in February 2015. The review, announced by the Scotland Yard chief along with Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, will be conducted by Dame Elish Angiolini and be published in February 2015. Angiolini was lord advocate in Scotland, the top prosecutor in the jurisdiction, from 2006 to 2011 and is now the principal of St Hugh's College Oxford.
Angiolini was lord advocate in Scotland, the top prosecutor in that jurisdiction. She is also principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford. Hogan-Howe said it was "perfectly possible" that unconscious bias applied to "sexual offence investigations".
Hogan-Howe announced the review with Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions. He said: "If you looked over the last few years, there's been some pretty awful incidents … which have made me think about police investigations – it could be far better. My concern has been whether the investigators are always as sensitive and empathetic to the victims accounts as they should be."
It will focus on the Met's investigations of rape in the London area it covers. The force, Britain's biggest, has been dogged by a series of scandals over the way it investigates rape, despite its leadership promising to reform and end the failing of victims. The review's focus will be on how cases of rape are investigated and prosecuted in London but its findings could lead to changes nationally.
In February a high court judge found that police have a legal duty to properly investigate rape and serious assault allegations under the Human Rights Act. The Met, Britain's biggest force, has been dogged by a series of scandals over the way it investigates rape and there has also been sustained concern about the failure to bring enough sexual violence offenders to justice.
The ruling followed a case brought by two women who were not believed by Met officers when they correctly claimed to have been victims of John Worboys, one of the worst serial sexual attackers in recent times. Errors by the Met meant Worboys remained at large as chances to catch him were missed. In February, a high court judge found that police had a legal duty to properly investigate rape and serious assault allegations under the Human Rights Act.
Worboys was jailed for life in 2009, with detectives fearing he attacked at least 105 women over a six-year period. The ruling followed a case brought by two women who were not believed by Met officers when they told detectives they had been victims of John Worboys, one of the worst serial sexual attackers in recent times.
Some of the Met's specialist sexual violence units, known as Sapphire, have been hit by problems and in several areas the Met failed to record rape incidents as crimes, in breach of its own policy. Errors by the Met meant Worboys remained at large as chances to catch him were missed. He was jailed for life in 2009, with detectives fearing he attacked at least 105 women over a six-year period.
A 2013 report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission found the Sapphire unit in Southwark tried to persuade women who reported they had been sexually attacked to drop their cases. It did so to boost its performance figures, which were among the worst in the Met. Some of the Met's specialist sexual violence units known as Sapphire have been hit by problems and, in several areas, the Met failed to record rape incidents as crimes, in breach of its own policy.
The policy had disastrous consequences. A woman who made rape allegations against Jean Say in November 2008 did not have her case investigated. A 2013 report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission found that the Sapphire unit in Southwark tried to persuade women who reported they had been sexually attacked to drop their cases. It did so to boost its performance figures, which were among the worst in the Met.
Say went on to murder his daughter Regina, eight, and son Rolls, 10, with a carving knife, with police having missed the chance to take him off the streets. He was later jailed for life. Hogan-Howe said that only a minority of victims reported rape or sexual violence to police and more than 80% suffered in silence. "For whatever reason, people don't trust the criminal justice system to give them the assistance they need at the time they most need it," he said.
Last week a new "action plan" was launched by police and prosecutors aiming at boosting the chances of victims of sexual violence being brought to justice. One idea the review will be asked to examine is a warning being given to juries to set aside their "unconscious bias" before they start hearing a case and not at the end.
The document said police officers and prosecutors should focus their cases on the behaviour of the accused, not the complainant, and warned that pervasive myths remain, not only among investigators but society as a whole, which may be helping the guilty escape justice.
Across England and Wales, the number of prosecutions and convictions has increased following changes to the way rape cases are handled, but the conviction rate has fallen from a record high of 63.2% in 2012-13 to 60.3% in 2013-14.Across England and Wales, the number of prosecutions and convictions has increased following changes to the way rape cases are handled, but the conviction rate has fallen from a record high of 63.2% in 2012-13 to 60.3% in 2013-14.
But the figures may be even worse than that. As few as one-in-10 rapes are estimated to be reported to police in the first place. Angiolini said: "The investigation and prosecution of rape presents uniquely challenging and sensitive issues. Overcoming these challenges requires appropriate policies, the highest levels of investigative skills and appropriate resources. Addressing the robust evidential requirements and any subsisting prejudice towards those who deserve the protection of the law also demands exceptional levels of preparation and advocacy. I hope this review will assist in the improvement of those processes."
Angiolini served as solicitor general for Scotland from 2001 to 2006 and then as lord advocate from 2006 to 2011. The review's terms of reference include the "identification of any attitudinal barriers which might prevent an effective criminal justice response particularly on issues related to consent, vulnerable victims and sexual exploitation".