A woman is suing the metropolitan police (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)A woman who claims she was raped by her husband is trying to sue the Metropolitan Police, alleging the force said the incident “wasn’t a crime”.
The woman, using the alias Emma to protect her anonymity, claims her husband continued to have sex with her against her will and when she told him it “felt like rape”.
She spoke to Met officers in June 2021, but says the investigation was halted without her husband or potential witnesses being interviewed, and without the analysis of phone evidence. Emma is now crowdfunding £14,000 in legal fees to take the Met to the High Court, in a bid to force it to reopen the case.
“I never thought the police would let me down this badly and can’t understand why it’s fighting this case,” said Emma. “Rape survivors shouldn’t have to go to court to force the police to do their job… It just feels surreal.”
The Met said the woman was interviewed twice by specially trained officers, but halted the investigation due to lack of evidence when she “did not substantiate the allegations”.
Emma, who is in her forties, is accusing her husband of rape in 2019 in London, before they separated, and also says he was coercive and controlling during their relationship. She says police were called to their home several times and domestic abuse risk assessments were carried out. During one interview with police, she says she told officers she “feared for her life” and accused her husband of punching her in the stomach while she was pregnant.
Emma has lodged a complaint with the Met’s directorate of professional Standards over the handling of her rape allegation, and has hired law firm Irwin Mitchell to bring a legal challenge.
Emma said she is crowdfunding to protect herself against five-figure costs if the case is unsuccessful, adding: “The trauma of the rape itself will live with me for the rest of my life, but it’s been made so much worse by the way the Met has treated me.”
Gus Silverman, the specialist human rights lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Emma, accused the Met of a “completely inadequate investigation followed by total denial that it did anything wrong”.
Responding to Emma’s case, the Met said in a statement: “In June 2021, police were contacted by a woman who made a report of rape that was alleged to have taken place in February 2019.
“Specially trained officers interviewed the woman on two occasions to gather more information about what had happened. During both interviews, the woman did not substantiate the allegations and there was insufficient evidence to progress the investigation.
“A separate report was received of harassment and affray. In September 2021, a man was interviewed under caution. Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, no further action was taken as the woman did not provide a statement.”
Emma’s crowdfund appeal can be found here
