To have no faith in the justice system or the police

[starshaker]

I have had dealing with the police/courts twice in my life.

The first time was because I was raped. I went to court and it came back as a not proven verdict

Second was when an idiot tried to run dp and myself off the road. We went to the police, gave statements, video of the car, registration number and obviously time and date of the incident. You would think easy case since all the evidence was there.
Well today dp and myself sat in the witness room at court for hours. Solicitor came to see me and said we were her priority case and she was gonna try and move it along. That was at 3 after we had been waiting since 9.45.
10 minutes later her assistant came and told us that due to a technicality the case wasn't going ahead. Seemingly the police has 14 days to notify the defendant that they are dealing with this but they took longer.

So now my anxiety has hit a whole new level. I feel like anybody can hurt me and it doesn't matter because they will get away with it.

maybe IABU

Is this normal

So sorry to hear what you have been through car accidents are very scary. Also, what an awful thing to happen that you were raped. I'm so so sorry to hear this.

I don't have much in the way of advice but I often feel the same. All too often sex crimes don't make it to court and people get off of crimes on 'technicalities'.

You are within your rights to feel how you do, but for yourself try and stay calm and rational. Is there a liaison officer you could possibly speak to? Have you had a fil debrief from the solicitor?

I think you're probably right to lose faith in the system. It drives me nuts when I hear cases have been dropped because of a technicality, like in your case. I wish common sense prevailed and we could abide by the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law.

Im so sorry you have had to deal with this but I have to say anytime I have had to deal with the police they have always come through.

I had a stalker and whilst they couldn't actually do anything due to him not harming me, they helped me every step of the way in getting a transfer to another property.

I was at a club across the road from where I lived many years ago and a girl was assaulted, the club owner wouldn't help as it was out of hours etc. illegal. I drove her to hospital as blood was pumping out of her head. I was over the limit. Got flashed by a police car on the way, I didn't stop until at the hospital. It was taken to court etc. and a fantastic head of the police dept told me to go and ask for it to be deferred, got a letter a week later telling me it had all be quashed.

I personally have faith in them.

YANBU. I also have no faith in them.

YANBU. Especially when it concerns one of their own. They will lie and lose evidence.

YANBU

Completely agree...no faith in either x

YANBU. Yes to lying, 'losing' evidence, taking 3 years for the CPS to make a charging decision etc. I used to trust the police and thought that our justice system was one if the best. How disillusioned I was.

I fully admire what they do. Toughest job ever! I wouldn't like to have to deal with the scum they do day in day out.

I have some faith in them, but it has to be qualified.
I once witnessed a woman being assaulted by her male partner. I drove her to the police station at her request and we both gave statements. It went to court several months later. I waited all day for the case to be called (it was literally the last case of the day), but she refused to testify- perhaps because she was afraid of him. Fair enough.
The policeman who was there as a witness in the same case complained to me about his time being wasted. I could see why he was annoyed - he had waited all day as well. But he clearly couldn't begin to imagine why a vulnerable woman wouldn't testify against someone who could cause her more harm. That's a serious problem.

I'm sorry you've had such awful experiences. There are good reasons why the system seems skewed in favour of the defendant, but it's really shit when you've been victimised.

I can understand why you currently have no faith in them.

I get where you're coming from. Personally my experiences have been that the police do ok but by court stage it's a joke!

So sorry you were raped and the git got off!

I have no faith either. I was on a jury last year and the case fell apart because two members of the jury fell out, one complained to the judge and we all got discharged.

The case has yet to go back to court nearly a year later. I feel so sorry for the victim (a child) and her family, it keeps me awake some nights.

I totally understand why you feel as you do OP

But my personal experiences have different, so atm I do have faith in the system.

I have sent a letter of complaint to the police. Doubt it will get anywhere though. The starnge this is I remember feeling that the police thought I was wasting their time when I gave my statement. He said are you really sure you want to pursue this. I asked him what he would do if he actually saw it happen and he said he would have pulled him over. I said well I want it dealt with. It was also the day of my grandmas funeral so it made a really shit day even worse