A brave woman who was raped by a stranger has spoken about the heartache of not being able to get justice.
Charlie says she was spiked with an injection by a man she didn't know while out in Newcastle. The 25-year-old was rushed to hospital after she says she was found having a fit in the bathroom of her home in Gosforth.
She said a doctor at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) identified a puncture wound to her neck, following the incident. Charlie says she then had tests, which identified she had injuries consistent with having been raped.
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Ten months after the incident, she was told police did not have enough evidence to support a prosecution. She has been left devastated by the decision and fears the man will now go on to rape somebody else.
Charlie, who works as a marketing executive in Newcastle, said: "I got the phone call while I was at work. I just sat there and screamed. I was sitting in the studio screaming saying 'no, no, no.'
"I had to get carried to my friend's car. She took me out of the office and to her house. I couldn't put one foot in front of the other. I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me.
"I was angry, I was so hurt and I didn't understand. I felt no justice had happened and he had gotten away with it.
"It's so disheartening that the justice system is protecting perpetrators instead of victims. It just seems to be a justice system for the perpetrator rather than for me. I feel like he could go and do this again, he can do what he wants.
"He gets to wander around the streets absolutely fine whereas I don't. It's had a detrimental impact on me. I know it happens more frequently than it's spoken about but I didn't expect to be in that position."
Charlie, who is originally from Derby, completed a degree in history followed by a masters in communication and marketing at Newcastle University. She went out for food and cocktails with two friends in January this year and they decided to go for a dance.
Charlie says she was not drunk and could remember chatting to a man while she was waiting at the bar for a drink. She said the next thing she remembered was waking up at the hospital in Newcastle.
She said she later discovered her friends had been trying desperately to find her and CCTV footage showed a man had held her up as they got into a taxi. She was later found without some of her clothes in her bathroom by a friend and taken to hospital.
Charlie, who has no recollection of what had happened, said: "I woke up in a corridor and I remember the doctor saying that the paramedic had noticed a puncture mark. They said 'we're going to let it develop and see what comes of it'."
She claims a doctor told her she had been spiked due to the puncture mark on her neck and her fitting. "The fitting was from whatever he (the attacker) had given me. To this day, I do not know what I was given.
"When I woke up in the hospital I couldn't do anything. It was a case of waiting for it to wear off. When I came home I had a house full of police."
Charlie was suffering from pain after leaving the hospital. She said she was taken to Reach, a service for men and women who have been raped or sexually assaulted, and tests revealed injuries consistent with having been attacked.
She said: "I just felt completely numb. I couldn't stand up, I had to go outside on the street and sit down. I was sat on the floor and I couldn't move. I was so angry and I felt so sick by it.
"I have other traumas in my life and I know I'm resilient as an individual, and I can get through things, but I have never felt so disconnected from my body.
"I felt like used goods afterwards. I felt disgusting and I felt dirty - all the things which you know you're not. But someone made me feel like that. I couldn't go to the Post Office without wanting to cry."
Charlie has praised Northumbria Police for working hard to investigate the crime. She said that around 16 officers from the force were involved in the case. She added: "They were great from the off, I couldn't fault them. From the detectives to the bobbies, they were fantastic."
Charlie said police were able to track the suspect down after he dropped a hotel card at the scene. A man was investigated under caution and released with no further action to be taken.
Two months ago, Charlie was contacted by a detective and given the news that he would not be charged.
She said: "For about two to three weeks afterwards I was just in a really bad place. I just felt like I had gone back to January all over again. I was just in an awful head space, I just couldn't speak."
Charlie, who has taken up riot boxing to help her deal with the incident, said she has now decided to try and turn her horrific experience into a positive by raising money for a rape charity. Next year, she will complete the Great North Run, the National Three Peaks challenge and a sky dive at 15,000ft for Rape Crisis TN and Women's Street Watch.
Charlie decided to set up a Gofundme page and raised £2,000 in just 20 hours. Her fundraising total is now more than £4,100 and she is set to receive another donation of £1,000. She hopes the charity may be able to put some of the money towards riot boxing sessions for victims.
Charlie added: "I needed to do something to not only help myself but to help others. I have very much had a mentality of keep going.
"I was shocked by the amount of money that was being donated. I'm completely grateful that, during the cost of living crisis, people are parting with so much money to help the cause. The kindness of people is overwhelming.
"This isn't a cause that comes to the front of people's minds immediately, it's not a pretty cause. But just because it's not a pretty cause doesn't mean it doesn't need help.
"I am that girl next door and it can happen to anybody."
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "A full and thorough investigation was carried out into this report and we would like to thank the complainant for her cooperation throughout.
"Following extensive enquiries, there was insufficient evidence to support a prosecution. The complainant has been fully updated by officers."
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