police dropped all charges against abusive ex. What now?

[threeleftfeet]

My good friend (she's siting here with me) has an abusive, violent, unstable ex. She left him, and he harassed her with sometimes as many as 50 phonecalls / texts a day, many threatening.

She went to the police and they were sympathetic.

They typed out all the texts from him on her phone. They arrested him and took his phone.

They bailed him and told him not to contact her, and she waited for a court date. What she wants is so feel safe from him.

When the court date was due, she heard form the police - via an answerphone message on her phone - that they hadn't managed to get sufficient evidence against him, the CPS had dropped it - despite them having his phone - and so all charges have been dropped. They have given him back the same phone he used to harass her on before, and he's started up again, although so far the texts are more in the vein of "I will always love you and forgive you for what you've done to me" (i.e. calling the police because he was harassing her). She's told the police he's contacting her again and they said she has to start from scratch with a new accusation of harassment.

She's scared of him and living looking over one shoulder when she goes out. He doesn't know where she lives but they're in the same town.

She doesn't understand how they could have his phone and not find evidence. And if he'd deleted all the messages surely they could ask the network provider, or access deleted messages from the phone itself (they told her they would do this)?

They've advised she go for a civil non-molestation order, but she can't afford it.

This isn't right, surely. Can anyone offer any words of advice?

I think they are taking it more seriously these day. The police she spoke to were very sympathetic.

"Contact one of those Domestic Abuse centres for advice" good idea

With respect, I think you were very unfair to Vicar. She is a police officer, and if you look at her past posts, obviously a very dedicated one. She wasn't rude, just aggravated - much as I get aggravated when people respond to a piece of journalism which finds out something they don't like by saying the journalist was "lazy" . If you care about your profession, obviously you are protective of it. It was the CPS who did not pursue this - the police referred it to the CPS so obviously they wanted to prosecute. And they will have given the CPS everything your friend gave them.

When you do speak to the police officer, I would make it clear you are concerned about your friend's personal safety and want to know what to do now, and (if you want) ask about how to feed back to the CPS.

And Victim Support may be a good idea.

Just a thought, is your friend sure the message on her answerphone was definitely left by the police and not her ex?

Okay, criminal law didn't help her (CPS decision not to prosecute) but civil law might, ie. taking out a civil injunction requiring him not to contact her or be within a certain distance of her. She needs to go to a solicitor (try and get a free 30-min introductory session) and ask what her prospects are of getting an injunction. The standard of proof is lower (she needs to establish he poses a risk on the balance of probabilities rather than beyond all reasonable doubt) so she should find it easier to get.

[disclaimer - I have a legal background but not in this area of law and my knowledge is slightly hazy].

1973magpie I thought of that too. She says she recognised the WPC's voice.

NicknameTaken she doesn't think she can afford to go down this route, but yes talking to a solicitor to at least understand the process and likely costs can't hurt.

Longtalljosie Vicar was obviously aggravated. I am grateful for the information she was trying to get across, but her language was agressive. I was hoping to be able to show this thread to my friend as I hope she'd find it a source of support and valuable information - but I won't now - because of the tone of several posts (not just Vicar) are less than supportive.

I appreciate Vicar does a difficult job and must be under a lot of strain. But directing her annoyance at a victim of crime who she should well know could be feeling pretty vulnerable right now, is not really fair IMO.

It may seem normal to her to just pick up a phone and speak to a police officer, but many people are not confident enough to do this, perhaps because they feel they might be seen to be wasting police time, or challenging their authority.(However untrue this may be in reality.)

If the police in this case have done their job wrt evidence gathering properly, then they can certainly be said to not have done their job wrt communication very well.
My friend is under the impression that they were unable to get the evidence out of the phone. If this isn't true, they've not done a great job at communicating that to her.

I am disappointed with Vicar's tone, and her suggestion that I should not be posting on mumsnet about this. This thread has been very useful. I now understand that there's a good chance that it was a CPS decision, rather than lack of evidence gathering by the police, and this is very useful information for us to have prior to talking to the police again.

I understand that she's aggravated, but I think it's massively unfair to direct that at us - at someone who has been the victim of crime, and someone who's trying to help her - when this is unfamiliar territory to us.

By all means explain if we're barking up the wrong tree, that advice is much appreciated - but as a police officer I would hope she could speak (indirectly) to a victim of crime in less agressive language.

"i get so very very pissed off with these speculative threads "
and "all it would take OP is one bloody phone call to the officer in case"

are the sentences which I felt were inappropriate.

I do agree with Vicar and can understand her frustrations.

Am in the same trade as Vicar though my job involves preparing the file for court/CPS. I work hard with the officer in the case to ensure all the evidence/paperwork is available - which can take weeks/months - along with all kinds of random requests from CPS which myself or the OIC run around trying to provide. After all that work, it is also frustrating for us when CPS come back to say the case is being discontinued/dropped/not in public interest etc...... must be doubly so for the victim/injured party.
I would recommend speaking to the officer in the case (who will probably also be miffed things were dropped) as well as keeping a diary of contact and ring the police as much as possible so all harassment etc is logged, which is also further evidence.

The court fee for a non-molestation order is £60
If you?re experiencing domestic violence, you can get an injunction (a court order) against a current or previous partner or a family member under the Family Law Act 1996 Part IV.

You can obtain a non-molestation order to prevent your abuser from being able to contact and harass you . An injunction is obtained by making an application to the courts, so you?ll need to take legal advice. You can get this either through a solicitor (find one who gives a free first session) or via the Citizen's Advice Bureau (free).

If you need to locate a solicitor in your area, contact Resolution or Community Legal Advice (they will call you back if you are worried about the cost of the call). Also, local domestic violence services often have lists of solicitors in local areas.

For further information on injunctions, contact Rights of Women www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/adviceline.php which provides a free legal advice line that helps women on a range of issues including domestic violence and harassment.

See also The Survivor's Handbook www.womensaid.org.uk information on injunctions.

legal aid is available and you may find that you are able to do this without cost if money is an issue

Thank you foolonthehill that's really useful information, I'll follow it up.

I spoke to my friend again. She wasn't sure about talking to the police again, as she contacted the Officer in Charge to report further threats from her ex and one of his family members (this was not so long ago, after the charges were dropped.) She was scared by the threats.

However she didn't receive a reply from the officer for nearly a month, and then when the WPC did get in contact it was only to tell her she'd have to start from scratch with a new complaint, so she got the impression they weren't that bothered about it anymore.

She is drawing conclusions that are not there. Go with her to the police station, ask for an appointment to see the OIC and ask what can be done to stop this harassment.

It's not good enough for CPS to just ditch something that could lead to more harm.

Yeah, and put the wind up the CPS too. This bit from their website and the other links you'll find on there could be a useful starting point. Just trying to get them to justify their decision could lead another prosecutor to review it, adn who knows, that person might take a differnt view.

Apart from anything else, your friend needs to know what more she should be doing to capture evidence of contacts from this creep in future to ensure that next time he acts there can be a prosecution.

the old complaint will still b on record on file if she had a crime ref so if she ends up in court asking for a non molestation order then it will be all in the police records under his name / her name.

she needs to record all harasment and keep going back to police ask to speak to dv officer about keeping safe

Does your friend work? If not or she is on low income she can get Solicitor to get her a non-molestation order.

She may have to phone around a few to see who can see her quickly but someone will be able to get her in