‘Jane’ accuses detectives of failing to follow guidance by not interviewing rape suspect
By Mark Conrad | 28 May 2014
“Lines of enquiry should also be directed at finding corroboration of the accounts given by both the victim and suspect”
– ‘Investigating and Prosecuting Rape,’ National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA)
Police are under pressure to explain why they failed to follow a key guideline for rape cases while investigating a former cabinet minister.
Guidance issued to police forces across the UK says that detectives should seek “corroboration of the accounts given by both the victim and suspect”.
But the woman – known as “Jane” to protect her identity – accused the Metropolitan Police Service of failing to do this when investigating her claim that the ex-minister raped her when she was a 19-year-old student in 1967 before he became an MP.
Just over a week ago, Tom Watson, Labour MP, has written to the director of public prosecutions to ask that she reviews the case. He believes that the police “failed to follow their own guidelines” by not interviewing the ex-minister.
The guidelines were produced on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Crown Prosecution Service, and updated in 2010.
They say: “Lines of enquiry should also be directed at finding corroboration of the accounts given by both the victim and suspect.”
The Met has endorsed the guidelines.
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