Turtle investigates: An anatomy of two rape trials

Two rape charges. Two criminal trials. Two acquittals. Two men – acquitted. Two women – torn apart. A Tortoise investigation has revealed how two complainants, Grace* and Emma*, experienced the justice system, from the time their alleged rapist was charged to the moment they were told the jury’s decision.

At a time when only a tiny number of rapes recorded by police result in prosecutions, access to the transcripts of these two trials allows a step-by-step analysis of how the two women’s cases were prosecuted, how the defendants were cross-examined by the defense, and why, in one case, a woman’s sexual past was allowed to be raised before the jury but the “bad character” of an alleged rapist was not.

On the stand

Grace was, in her own words, “destroyed” in the witness box during a “barbaric” cross-examination by her ex-partner’s lawyer over two days. Dozens of her most private and intimate text and video messages were pored over in a shameful public ordeal. Afterward, her mental health collapsed. She doesn’t think she will ever recover.

Emma has had to lose two years of medical school because of the stress of waiting for trial and then fighting to protect her daughter from her ex-husband after he was found not guilty. She cannot believe how many errors by the prosecution undermined the case against her ex-husband – who had already pleaded guilty to other charges of repeatedly raping his two younger siblings. She is stunned and angry that the jury was not allowed to hear this fact.

Both women have referred their complaints to the level of an “independent expert” after the public prosecutor twice refused to admit their extensive list of criticisms except for a single point.

The criminal justice system in court – a snapshot

Last year:

• The police recorded almost 70,000 reports of rape of adults
• The public prosecutor’s office brought charges in 2,837 cases (some of which related to investigations from previous years).
• 2,507 rape trials against adults ended with either a verdict or a guilty plea.
• 1,574 rapists were convicted (some for rapes where the victim had waited years for a trial).

Is it getting better?

For now, yes. Four years ago, there were over 1,100 fewer rape reports than in 2023. And 246 fewer convictions. But the increase in prosecution rates is from a very low base. If you, as a rape accuser, are lucky enough to see the accused in court, the conviction rate is about 70-75 percent.

Our research found that rape prosecutions are now experiencing delays. Years of underfunding and the resulting exodus of lawyers from the profession have led to trials being cancelled either on the day of the trial or in the hours leading up to it. Grace’s trial was postponed twice. Delays caused by overcrowded court lists and too few judges, lawyers or courtrooms can determine the outcome of the trial. Women drop out between arraignment and trial because they cannot bear the stress of waiting for what could be years and the emotional toll of being summoned to court only to find that the trial is postponed.

Even if a man is convicted, rape victims can realize how insignificant they are to the legal system.

Although she is not featured on our podcast, Veronica*, who believes her ex would have killed her if she had not finally escaped after years and reported him to the police, said that no one bothered to inform her of his sentencing, even though she had explicitly confirmed that she wanted to attend. Her victim impact statement was not even read out in court. She had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but she had managed to write it despite the torment she was going through, so that she would finally have a voice when her rapist was convicted.

She was strictly instructed to keep her statement brief and apologized to the judge for finding it difficult to express herself precisely.

“But how do you briefly describe being repeatedly hit in the head while hearing the screams and seeing the fear and tears on your son’s face?” she asks. “How do I briefly describe what it’s like to be raped? Sexually abused. Humiliated. How do I briefly describe that? Do I ignore how my son witnessed this horrific abuse? Or do I ignore how my ex performed homemade medical procedures, how many tears (in my skin) were glued together, including when he held the knife to my throat? Or do I ignore how my joints were put back in their sockets after he dislocated yet another bone? Or do I ignore the rape because it’s not easy to hear? I’ve been virtually silenced since the day we became a couple… this is my only chance to speak.”

Regaining a sense of control and agency over their lives is one of the reasons women report rape. But because no one let Veronica know that her ex was being brought before the judge to make the ruling, “that was taken away from me,” she said. “My ex And now the courts have silenced me.”

Grace’s ex was found not guilty of three counts of rape and three counts of assault. He was found guilty of coercion and control: he was remanded in custody for seven days for breaching bail conditions twice.

Emma’s ex-husband is now in prison for incest crimes. But not because he raped her.

In her victim statement, she wrote: “When the person who is supposed to love you most in the world and who is committed to spending the rest of their life with you rapes you, it destroys your sense of yourself and the world.”

The letter was never read out in court either, as Emma is not a victim in the eyes of the law.

These are some of the women behind the numbers. And they don’t feel like justice is being done.

*Names have been changed.

LISTEN NOW

On the witness stand: Grace’s story

In the UK, it is estimated that more than one in four adult women will be sexually assaulted or raped in their lifetime. But what goes wrong and where? This is the story of two women, their two trials and a criminal justice system that seems completely broken.

In the witness box: Emma’s story

In the UK, more than one in four adult women are thought to have been sexually assaulted or raped in their lifetime. But what goes wrong and where? This is the story of two women, their two trials, and a criminal justice system that seems completely broken. This is part two: Emma’s story.