KevinArnottsGoldenBoot, on 16 October 2016 - 02:28 PM, said:
To CONTINUE... so the prosecution has to be underway. The CPS ( Crown PROSECUTION Service: the clue is in the title) makes the decision to prosecute AFTER the complainant instigates the process by going to the police. Has it sunk in yet!?
So it has to be started. By the FECKING COMPLAINANT!!! ( 1.a person, group, or company that makes a complaint, as in a legal action.)
That really is my last word. I'm just not going to return, as for some reason I can't stop talking to a brick wall. Which probably says more about me than it does the wall.
There doesn't have to be ANY complaint from the victim for a case to go ahead. You're misinterpreting the word continue. The victim quite often isn't the one who calls the Police, its often a neighbour who hears something troubling coming from next door or a friend who see's the bruising and is concerned. Even if the victim refuses to confirm anything has happened if there is strong enough evidence from other sources a prosecution can still go ahead without any involvement from the victim.
It doesn't happen often but from personal experience with DV victims the CPS have taken on cases and gained successful convictions against DV perpetrators without the victim ever making any complaint or statement. It's there to protect people who are too scared to make complaints against their abusers.
I still find it hard to believe that the Evans case got as far as a courtroom. The defence in the retrial summed it up for me with lack of memory doesn't mean lack of consent (or words to that effect). There are only 2 people who were present when the incident happened and it isn't hard to believe that perhaps both parties were telling the truth.
This post has been edited by trickytrevsfanclub: 17 October 2016 - 09:24 AM