My BF has been in prison...

[Stubborn9ts]

(sorry if this is long)
My BF of 4 Months has recently told me that when he was a teenager he went to prison for several years for rape against a 19 year old! this happened whilst he was in the Army. He is now 30. He was given a life sentence not so much for the crime itself(even though very serious) but due to a inaccurate pre-sentence report by a psychiatrist, this has since been ruled inadmissible by the courts. He had a number of trials that were dismissed or stopped for various legal reasons.

He says he never did it and was pressured into pleading guilty by his legal team to avoid a life sentence, which he still got!!, He says he pleaded guilty out of fear as he was scared and wasn't able to get his solicitor to do his job so had to cut his losses and go in to damage limitation mode. He had to continue pretending to admit and show remorse for this throughout his prison sentence to get his release. It seems that his legal aid solicitor didn't do much work on the case or go through with the forensic testing he should have done. He has tried recently to get advice - unsuccessfully with a barrister to withdraw his guilty plea.
My BF has a DNA report that shows he is not the person responsible but due to the court of appeal rules this was deemed as available at the trial and can not now be used in appeals. His solicitor never told him about this report! He cannot afford any more legal challenges, financially or emotionally.

He is now on licence in the community and has to carry on as if he did it, as he fears that if he tells probation/police the truth and launches any sort of appeal they might recall him back to prison on a life sentence. His family and small circle of friends are all open and honest about this and very supportive of him. He has moved on and now runs his own successful metal business. It has taken its toll on him, he is cautious in trusting people now and it has left him slightly suspicious of people.

As a result he is automatically on Sex Offenders Register and he has to tell partners about his past, something to do with public protection it seems and something called MAPPA????
I have met his police liason officer who confirmed that i knew why he had been in prison, the police bloke tbh just asked if i knew and didnt go into much depth. Again they just accept he did it as he pleaded guilty without asking themselves if there is more to this or not. He sees probation once a month for all of ten minutes at most, they leave him alone as hes not considered a high risk.

The issue though is on the one hand this very intelligent, thoughtful, nice, quite guy has been to prison for a very serious crime, yet i actually really love him, Some of my friends think i am mad for staying with him. But at the same time he has never hurt me, treated me badly or done anything to cause me to worry. Long term i think we have a future.

What do others make of this? Has anybody else experience of a situation when they find out that a BF has a serious criminal record or been to prison for a sex offence?

Oh, and for info... only the most horrendous of offenders end up being supervised by MAPPAs think Jon Venables.

There are no circumstances under which this will turn out ok.

Me think he doth protest too much.... just sayin

Hi OP.

Haven't read the full thread, but out of curiosity I looked up the sentencing guidelines on the CPS website for rape. www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/rape_and_sexual_offences/sentencing/

It states:

Starting Points
Single offence of rape by single offender: 5 years custody - victim 16 or over
8 years custody - victim 13 or over but under 16
10 years custody - victim under 13
Rape accompanied by aggravating factor: 8 years custody - victim 16 or over
10 years custody- victim aged 13 or over but under 16
13 years custody - victim under 13
Repeated Rape of same victim by single offender or rape involving multiple victims:
15 years custody

Therefore, it appears that your bf must have been a repeat rapist and/or there must have been very serious aggravating factors.

In addition, Ministry of Justice figures show that the average term served by non-mandatory lifers imprisoned in 2005 was 6.2 years; those imprisoned in 2006 8.2 years; and 9 years for those jailed in 2007 and 2008. I don't know how long he served but if it was longer than the average term served for whichever year, you can draw your own conclusions.

It would seem that your bf is lying. I'm sorry OP, but better to suffer the pain of a break-up now than to potentially go through much, MUCH worse further down the line.

Do you want to be raped? Sorry to be harsh OP, but thats the choice you are making here. To leave, or stay and wait for the domestic violence and rapes. Its not pleasant OP. Ive been subjected to DV and rape. I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy. Regaress of his alleged "innocence", your love for him, etc., hes connected to a rape. Thats enough for me. Thats a risk im not prepared to take.

Just read the full thread, so the figures I posted for average sentence served are irrelevant.

Yes, miscarriages of justice happen, but why take the risk?

After only four months, it has to be a no-brainer - unless this is a troll post....

Everything he is telling you is all very 'convenient' to make him seem in the best light.

Get out now OP. Run and don't look back.

I am struggling to understand why on earth he was advised to plead guilty when there was so much apparent evidence of his innocence. It just does not make any sense at all. Why aren't you coming back to explain any of this, OP?

A friend of mine ended up meeting some guy on-line who was a convicted murderer & a suspected woman-beater. During their 'courtship', he was convicted of the latter & she still stayed with him. She believed his bull dust stories about miscarriages of justice, yada yada...

It ended in tears.

The other mystery on this thread for me is the question of 3 trials at the behest of CPS. National CPS policy is to pursue 1 retrial in the event of a hung jury. A case must be a matter of significant national/legal importance for a second retrial. I had a case in court for a retrial last week (rape of 4 year old girl, now 22) where the jury failed to reach a verdict in the retrial. It will not be retried.

Apart from other anomalies too numerous to mention this stands out. His story has more holes than a fishing net

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but DNA or absence of it does not in itself prove an individual guilty or innocent.

For example DNA could be there after consensual intercourse while the rapist's is not due to them wearing a condom (there have been cases where this has happened). This us why DNA does not automatically lead to conviction as DNA is not concrete proof. DNA is one piece of the jigsaw.

There is only one statement of fact, he is a liar. He either lied in court or is lying now.

I find it very hard to believe that he would plead guilty to a rape he was innocent of. Yeah, I can just see a normal, decent man doing that . The knife/ dna makes me wonder if there were actually 2 of them .

What concerns me is that you relate his account of prison and his conviction and trial in your OP as the correct version, which suggests that you have believed it. It is extremely unlikely to be correct, for reasons outlined above, and many more. The crime must have been really serious (i.e. more serious than a 'normal' rape, whatever that is) for him to get that sentence.
Others have said it-get out now, stop all contact.

I'm not going to plough through all the rambling justification and delusion from the OP, but on a point of fact that someone may have knowledge of: isn't the likelihood that if someone had a tariff of four years ten months, but served eight years, that they were a serious problem in gaol? The usual problem would be severe lack of evidence of rehabilitation, denial of guilt, that sort of thing?

The OP won't be back. Though now Ive said that probably will but still won't listen. She thinks she's something special than can save him. She doesn't realise that by believing this shit it is a sign of zero self esteem.

The thing is, if the courts only ever heard a defence case, nobody would ever be convicted. But they are because the court also hears the case for the prosecution.

Op you've only heard the case for the defence. And a pretty half arsed one at that.

Also, how come he got life if he pleaded guilty in order to get a reduced sentence?

This thread has really troubled me.

I'm trying to remember if I have ever had a client, or heard any of my colleagues talking about a client, who has actually pleaded guilty to rape. I can't think of any. They almost always go to trial.

Some appeal clients I've dealt with will look you in the eye and swear blind that they were convicted because some piece of evidence didn't go in, or because a witness didn't come to court. When you check the records, the evidence is there, or the witness came.

My gut feeling is that a bit of digging will reveal a narrative something like this: a mis-trial, quite possibly because something came to light during the trial that needed further investigation. Further evidence served late in the day leading the solicitor to change their advice OR the complainant having given credible, damning and painful evidence, leading to the solicitor having another go at getting him to plead in a last-ditch attempt to salvage some credit. The crime had some serious aggravating features, and psych report indicated he was dangerous, hence hefty sentence. A further psych report while he was in custody climbed down from the psychopath label, and he was then released on licence.

I could of course be entirely wrong and this man might be as innocent as a baby lamb, and a victim of some of the most spectacularly unlikely circumstances I've seen in the criminal justice system. But I don't think so. I'd be surprised if the OP doesn't get a call from the police or probation service at some point in the near future.

Do you really believe his solicitor had proof of his innocence and just couldn't be arsed to put it forward? A likely story!

God sake, so many men in the world, why carry on with this one now you've found this out. I'd hate to sleep with one eye open forever.

Yes how can you sleep at night next to this man? The bottom line is he is a convicted rapist who pleaded guilty to the charge and some of the details you have added eg knife and blood are very worrying. I hope he is not in your home around your children op.

I'm not going to plough through all the rambling justification and delusion from the OP, but on a point of fact that someone may have knowledge of: isn't the likelihood that if someone had a tariff of four years ten months, but served eight years, that they were a serious problem in gaol? The usual problem would be severe lack of evidence of rehabilitation, denial of guilt, that sort of thing?

Kind of. With a life sentence the judge sets the tariff as the minimum term that an offender must serve before they are considered eligible for parole. A prison will not release a "lifer" who is risk assessed as unsafe. For someone with a 4y10m tariff to be considered unsuitable for release on licence by the parole board, they must be satisfied that there was a likelihood of reoffending, that he has caused problems in prison, that a psychiatric report deems they pose a danger to others etc.
it is very unusual for life imprisonment to be used in rape cases, offenders generally get fixed term sentences. For a judge to have imposed a life sentence they must have been satisfied that there was the option that your boyfriend was so dangerous that he may need to stay in prison for many, many years

I'm curious, did the OP mention whether it was two mistrials (could be for any number of reasons as mentioned by kungfu) or whether the juries could not reach a verdict ? The two are very different situations and trials can fall apart because of issues over juror specialist knowledge, immigration refusing to allow a key witness entry to the uk, videolinks failing, inappropriate questioning by a barrister leading to an adverse impact on the jury (all things that have led to mistrials that i have worked on)

. But at the same time he has never hurt me, treated me badly or done anything to cause me to worry.

Yet.

But he will. Four months is nothing. The mask is still on and I bet he's all lovely and charming isn't he? Sensitive soul? Not hurt a fly?

Fast forward a few years and you'll be back here, couple of kids, and he will have hurt you, or them. It will happen. You don't get life for rape unless there were serious aggravating factors. The conviction rate for rape is shockingly low. If he was innocent there'd be a line of legal professionals knocking his door down to win him the vast payment for compensation he'd be entitled to - because if what you've presented here is true it's be an easy win. Now ask yourself - is there a line of legal professionals gagging to take this blatant miscarriage of justice on for vast piles of compensation cash ?

No. There is not. And that should tell you something op.

He's lying to you
He's guilty of rape - and with sufficient aggravating circumstances to warrant a life sentence
He shows no remorse
He has had no rehabilitation
He has gotten away with it
He will do it again. To you, or perhaps your teenage daughter.

Run for the hills. The lack of remorse means that psychiatric assessment was probably right.

Ffs
Fucking LEAVE THIS MASSIVE BASTARD!
Im actually worried for you because this wont end well...
As everyone has said he's feeding you a crock of shit. I have no knowledge of the legal system but even i can see this guys a grade a scum bag.

Omg skiptonlas did I read that right...The OP has a teenage daughter?

This will not end well. Get your daughter away from this rapist NOW

OP, seriously, in the nicest way possible what did you hope to get from this thread?

Were you hoping that someone would come on and say 'Oh yes of course its believable,poor man, you both go be happy' ?

Or are you experiencing doubts but don't know how to express them?