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Original poster

Commuter who walked past actress at Waterloo station cleared of 'bizarre' sex assault claim

193 replies

LurkingHusband · 08/02/2016 12:02

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/commuter-who-walked-past-actress-at-waterloo-station-cleared-of-bizarre-sex-assault-claim/ar-BBpcZ5y

A commuter has been cleared of sexually assaulting a well-known actress after a jury rejected claims the crime could have taken place in a brief half-second contact in a busy railway station.

Mark Pearson, a 51-year-old artist and picture framer, was accused of brushing against the actress, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in a mass of train passengers at London’s Waterloo station.

CCTV footage showed Mr Pearson, who was a complete stranger to the alleged victim, did not break his stride as he walked past the woman, who was heading to a rehearsal.

(contd)

Not really much to say . I'm pleased the CPS will "respect the juries decision". The fact they had to state that implies there have been or will be times when they don't accept the juries decision.

OP posts:

ScarletForYa · 08/02/2016 17:54

I've never heard of her either. She should be done for making a malicious accusation.

firesidechat · 08/02/2016 18:03

Oh dear, she would be mortified.

Not by the court case, but because so many of you have never heard of her. You cruel lot.

WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 08/02/2016 18:15

Can someone pm me a name too please

gatewalker · 08/02/2016 18:19

It may be that she does believe she was assaulted, even if she wasn't, and is not being deliberately malicious. The human mind is complex and trauma can be relived in many different ways.

Hoppinggreen · 08/02/2016 18:22

I'm obviously a crap Googler too.
Please can someone suggest what to Google - tried Reddit but no joy

Pipbin · 08/02/2016 18:29

I'm my opinion the most annoying thing about this is the way it will be grist to the mill of those who complain about women 'crying rape' all the time.
I'm glad this was taken seriously but it is bloody idiotic.

MrsRyanGosling15 · 08/02/2016 18:42

Reddit has a link to you tube video. Read the comments.

GruntledOne · 08/02/2016 18:50

What is interesting about this is that there is a process in Crown Court trials where, after the prosecution case has been presented, the defence can, if it thinks it appropriate, make a submission that there is no case to answer - i.e. that the prosecution hasn't come close to proving this case. If the submission succeeds, the jury will simply be directed to accquit without the defence having to present any evidence.

In this case we know that the trial went through to a full verdict, which must mean either that the defence didn't make a submission, or that they did but the submission failed. My guess is that the judge probably took the view that ultimately it had to be the jury's decision because it was a matter of his word against theirs, and factual issues have to be left to the jury. But the fact that it went all the way to a jury does tend to vindicate the CPS decision.

BYOSnowman · 08/02/2016 18:56

I read somewhere that the judge asked the prosecution if they were sure they wanted to go ahead and they said yes. Seems odd

Is it really the person who comes up though? I vaguely recognise her but there are a couple of other names being throw around which is pretty harsh on them just because they fit the profile

Behooven · 08/02/2016 18:58

There's 3 different names on that Reddit thread. I'm confused.

DrSeussRevived · 08/02/2016 19:01

"Is there no such thing as defamation nowadays? "

IIRC, court privilege would cover these things.

Ultimately, she made a complaint, it was investigated and it went through evidential requirements and. a CPS decision before going to court. Defamation would be if she had said something in the press or whatever without going through legal process.

Bluenailsblueshoes · 08/02/2016 19:08

Never heard of her but her face looks vaguely familiar.

oldzebra · 08/02/2016 19:08

Well it's true to say that other similar aged actresses may not be willing to be used as her cover. I think the point being made by mentioning the others, is that it isn't fair on them to be 'under suspicion' of being the actress when in fact they know full well themselves who she is. When you know who it is, it's quite clear it is her even from the blurry image.

That was what happened with John Leslie, he was appearing every day on TV whilst other presenters were irked to be used as his cover in plain sight. Leslie was eventually named publically. Same could happen in this case if other actresses aren't prepared to be this woman's cover in plain sight.

Bluenailsblueshoes · 08/02/2016 19:08

Oh I've only seen one name.

oldzebra · 08/02/2016 19:19

Yes one name is out there. But there's a discussion somewhere mentioning other actresses of similar age who must be unhappy about potentially being labelled as delusional.

AcrossthePond55 · 08/02/2016 19:21

I've seen three possible names on Reddit, one of which can be discounted from the video. I recognize the name of one of the remaining two. No idea which of the two it may be (if either).

My feeling is that if the accuser had an ounce of class or empathy, she'd come forward and say 'I was upset, I made a mistake'. Not to do so simply indicates to me that she conflated the 'incident' for her own purposes.

DrSeussRevived · 08/02/2016 19:27

If the complainant (not the accuser - the decision to accuse is made by the police and CPS) steps forward to say anything, she loses her right to anonymity, which is part of the laws of the land.

No idea if she mixed up her days, the man involved, mistook the pressure of one thing for another or what. But unless she is charged with making a malicious accusation or wasting police time, she has as much right to anonymity as this man does to justice.

evilcherub · 08/02/2016 19:33

I guessed who the actress was from the CCTV before I even googled her name.

Hoppinggreen · 08/02/2016 19:34

Thank you for the PM's , much appreciated.
Never heard of her though.

oldzebra · 08/02/2016 19:38

Yes evil, I tried to think of anyone who would do such a bizarre thing and she was the only one to spring to mind. Then saw the footage and it is clearly her. Then did couple of searches and found that it is her.

evilcherub · 08/02/2016 19:43

The actress obviously has issues because the whole case is absolutely bonkers but I think it is shameful that this probably went to court because of "quotas" to fill and because the CPS had been given a telling off for not taking more sex abuse/rape cases to court. So now we have a system where the CPS/police need to fill arbitary quotas in order to be seen to be doing their jobs properly. How ridiculous and how terrible for justice.

MrsToddsShortcut · 08/02/2016 19:48

If it helps, one of the women mentioned on Reddit isn't actually in her 60's. It would be horrible if someone was wrongly accused.

Feenie · 08/02/2016 19:52

I hadn't heard of her, so checked Wikipedia - her page has 'rape accuser' added to her accomplishments, edited in the last five minutes.

SymphonyofShadows · 08/02/2016 19:54

Oh HER! She used to come to where I worked after she was in a movie that was a surprise hit in the 80's. Very grand then.

DiscordiaVanDiemen · 08/02/2016 19:56

Never heard of her before. It's all over Twitter...

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