WHY are we creatures of extreme belief and action all the time?

Due to some high profile individuals being publicly hounded for claims of historic sexual abuse, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has suggested the police should change their approach to allegations of sex abuse and not automatically believe the complainant – common sense.

After the vile actions and revelations of Jimmy Savile, it was no surprise that hysteria hit our nation, and as a result of this the terrible lacklustre way our law protected and investigated these types of claims and crimes was completely changed, with full resources being thrown at them.

The fuse was further lit from our place in the UK when the notorious Oxford gang of men was identified and arrested for grooming, abusing, and raping vulnerable teenage girls around our city.

Yet now, years down the line due to going too far the other way, we find ourselves in a position where a cloud of injustice keeps growing due to stupid malicious people looking to exploit a situation either for financial gain, or to extract revenge on an individual. Our very own Sister Frances Dominica has had to suffer the embarrassment and shame of being publicly accused, only for no charges to be brought – a lifetime of beautiful actions tarnished.

It shouldn’t take allegations against high-profile individuals for us to sit up and address the issues we’ve created for ourselves. We live in a climate of fear where parents are terrified every other man is a potential sexual predator. And if you are one of the unlucky non-famous men to get caught up in a revenge allegation then kiss goodbye to your life because the local/national media will destroy you, regardless of your guilt or not, which ultimately leads to messages of hate and death threats via social media.

The police should always assume the position of neutrality. They are not a judge, they are not a psychologist, they need to show respect to both parties and investigate responsibly. Anonymity in these cases needs to be applied to both parties until a conviction in court. Anything less is putting people’s lives at risk and to suggest otherwise is dangerous. For those where the police and a judge feel there is a public safety issue or a need for more witnesses to come forward, then the release of details can still be made but at least reasonable steps have been taken before that serious decision is made.

We need to take a common sense approach and stop going to the extremes with knee jerk reactions. We need sensible policies that focus on fact-finding rather than lynch mob judgement, while supporting the genuine victims with as much counselling and care as they need for as long as it takes.

JAMES GREG
Horspath
Oxford