A WOMAN whose rapist was never prosecuted has spoken of her brutal ordeal as it’s revealed today that 85 per cent of rape reports in Oxfordshire remain unsolved.

An investigation by this paper has found that the majority of reported rapes over the last decade have been filed ‘no further action.’

Over the last 10 years, since January 2010, police in the county have received 3,487 reports of rape.

Of those, the majority – 2,585 – were filed with no further action.

Another 398 were shelved until more information comes to light.

Of the remaining 504 reports, 80 are still being investigated, two have resulted in a caution and 422 have ended in a charge.

Now one woman, whose investigation from 2016 has never been solved, has spoken about the traumatic and ‘exhausting’ ordeal of interviews and intimate examinations.

Oxford Mail:

On the day that she was brutally raped she drove to the hospital on ‘autopilot’ – where she met a friend, was put into a side room and X-rayed for broken bones. 

Staff called the police and three officers arrived.

They asked her to swap her clothes, which were now evidence, for hospital gowns, she said.

Her car was also taken away by one of the officers while the other two took statements and forensic swabs. 

She said: “I was getting every crevice of my battered body including internals swabbed by the female in front of the male and he turned his back for the intimate stuff.”

A&E staff gave her the ‘all-clear’ for broken bones and she was taken to another centre but by this point it was 9pm and she had already been at the hospital for six hours. 

At the centre, her bruises were photographed.

Oxford Mail:

She was also made to lay down with her feet in stirrups as her insides were examined. 

The woman, who has the legal right to remain anonymous, said: “It is humiliating and degrading alone, never mind after that, but I understand as it is evidence gathering.” 

She was given antibiotics by the doctors to stop cuts and wounds getting infected, and medication to minimise the risk of getting HIV.

The GP booked her an appointment at a sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic for two days later and she was given bundles of leaflets. She said the time was now 4am.

Oxford Mail:

The following day, at 11am, officers drove her in an unmarked police car from her home to a ‘special house’ to record another interview.

She said she was ‘exhausted’ when she arrived at the ‘normal looking house’. 

She explained: “I went into the interview room, which was a room with two chairs, a table and a camera dotted around. They put a microphone on me and basically took the same statement.”

Police took more evidence and drove her to the scene of the crime. She returned home at 8pm.

The following day, tests had been booked at the STI clinic and they eventually came back all clear. 

Oxford Mail:

She said: “I was able to rest the day after that but then the following day I got a letter to say if I didn’t collect my car by 12pm that day I would be charged £100 a day to store it and give it back. 

“Over the next week I had four more interviews and got to the point where I had had enough.

“I was emotionally and physically exhausted and I just couldn’t cope with it anymore but I was told they were proceeding with the case anyway. I could not choose to support the case but if I refused to act as a witness then I could be held in contempt.” 

At this stage, she was asked to collect her clothes, phone, and other bits which were examined by forensics.

Oxford Mail:

Her necklace, given to her by her husband on their wedding day, had ‘vanished’ but was eventually found three months later. 

She was told at this stage that, despite the evidence, they couldn’t proceed with the case.

However, weeks later she was told the alleged rapist had been arrested and charged. 

She said she was harassed by him, leaving her no choice but to change her name on social media. 

After that, the case was dropped for the last time. 

Police say they take every report of rape ‘extremely seriously’.

In a statement they said: “We would encourage victims to come forward, where they will receive specialist support and will be treated with sensitivity and compassion. Any reported offence will be thoroughly investigated and we will always do everything possible to trace those responsible and take the most appropriate action against them.

“The investigation of such offences is hugely complex and there can be difficulties reaching the required standard of evidence, additionally some of the reports we receive might be from non-recent cases where the offender may have passed away, cannot be traced or evidence may have been lost due to the passage of time.”

In an emergency call 999. To report a historic rape call police on 101.

For more information and resources on sexual offences, visit Thamesvalley.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/support-for-victims-of-rape-and-sexual-assault

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Read our full investigation in the Oxford Mail newspaper today