Outrage as rape case woman is jailed after withdrawing allegation

Mold - Rape crisis centres and charities have expressed alarm and anger as a woman who accused her husband of raping her six times and then withdrew the allegations, was jailed by judges for eight months in Powys, south Wales.

The 28-year-old woman, unnamed, was jailed by Judge John Rogers QC at Mold Crown Court, told her, "Despite all the support and time taken in the investigation you eventually made a retraction. I now have to deal with you because you made a false retraction". Holly Dustin, a director at the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said the verdict sends out a "chilling message" to rape victims and the criminal justice system is "still in the dark ages" when it comes to sexual violence. Rape Crisis, a charity that operates in England and Wales, released a public statement saying they were "outraged" a woman was being criminalised just because she chose not to pursue her case. The woman sobbed, reports BBC Mid Wales, as she was led away from the dock and relatives also shouted at the judge for his decision. It was during the hearing that the prosecution heard the woman had made a 999 call to Dyfed-Powys Police in November last year claiming she had been raped six times by her husband. But then in January 2010, she dropped the charges, still maintaining however that they were true. Detectives decided to continue to press charges against the husband despite her retractions. Then on February 11, the victim withdrew her story completely, saying the original allegations were false. It was then she was arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice. Then on July 30, she said the rape allegations were true and the retraction was false. She told police she had been raped but her husband and his relatives had convinced her to drop the charges. The husband has since appeared in court and has pleaded not guilty to rape. The prosecution told the court the woman had been moved to a safe house refuge, and it was during this time that the allegations were retracted. The prosecutor, Simon Parry said, "There was a conference between the police and CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] and in the light of the fact she said the allegations were true they said the case would go ahead". But suspicions were raised among the prosecution when the woman admitted she then had consensual sex soon after the alleged rapes. Gordon Hennell, defending, said, "when she embarked on making a false retraction she did not realise the seriousness of what she was doing. She does now. She perverted the course of justice in relation to a series of events in which she was the victim." he went on to say the woman was in an abusive marriage that had now ended. Mr Hennell alleged the defendant changed her mind as the result of "emotional blackmail" from her husband and his sister. Judge Rogers summing up in court, told her:

If you had to be dealt with for making a false allegation of rape you would be looking at a sentence of two years. The position has now changed but there are two aggravating features.

One you have caused a substantial amount of wastage for the CPS and police, and two you have had to admit that retraction was false, perverting the course of justice, and for that the imposition of a prison sentence is inevitable.

A spokeswoman for Rape Crisis, said after the sentencing, "Rape Crisis are outraged that yet again a woman is being punished and criminalised for choosing not to pursue her case through the criminal justice system. We are shocked that this woman has received a custodial sentence and by the length of it. It highlights a complete lack of understanding of the complexity and reality of women's experience of violence in their lives." Rape Crisis and End Violence Against Woman have called for the woman's immediate release.