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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Rape case report in local news!!

63 replies

MsMarthaMay · 14/09/2015 19:10

Please help me. My ex has just been sent to prison for raping me. The local newspaper have published an article about the case including quite intimate details about what he did. They haven't named me but they named him and gave enough other detail that anyone who knows me could use to identify me. Please can anyone tell me how to get them to remove it? There's no answer on their phone number and I'm really upset and desperate for them to take it down. Sat here shaking

OP posts:
nolongerwaitingfornumber2 · 15/09/2015 00:13

OP you have my utmost sympathy as I know how distressing unwanted publicity in the press can be and my situation was nowhere near as traumatic as yours.

In my case I contacted both the publication and the Press Complaints Commission. The article was eventually removed because it was agreed that the jigsaw effect meant I was identifiable through the information in the article despite not being personally named. However it did take a while and lots of tenacity on my part because the paper really dug their heels in and the PCC weren't brilliant.

The relief when it was taken offline was so worth it though and now no one can see that article.

MsMarthaMay · 15/09/2015 00:15

Sorry but why are people reporting my post?

OP posts:
LimitedSedition · 15/09/2015 00:16

Just because it makes you really identifiable IRL.

I'm really sorry this has happened, I hope they take the story down.

KittiesInsane · 15/09/2015 00:17

I think because the wording might make you identifiable and link your MN name to real life, not any kind of criticism.

sykadelic · 15/09/2015 00:35

Because if you google your snippet you can find the article.

TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 15/09/2015 01:21

Yes. Sorry but it is. I've no idea who you are & not interested. However I suspected that you'd given a long enough quote to find the exact article. I'm really sorry about this. Flowers

TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 15/09/2015 01:23

Not interested in finding out who you are, I mean. I suspect you've inadvertently further damaged your own privacy - hence my report to MNHQ.

Joysmum · 15/09/2015 01:37

Me too. I googled some of the terms you used and an article popped right up.

Please get your post giving details deleted for your own privacy x Flowers

Whatsforsupper · 15/09/2015 01:48

When you speak to the paper make sure they speak with Google and have them remove it from their search results and cache.

I agree, with the words you posted the article is easy to find.

Id also like to say I am sorry you're going through this OP I have so much admiration for you having the courage to report him.

I hope this gets resolved shortly.

Baconyum · 15/09/2015 02:02

"In addition, the press must not publish material "likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and they are legally free to do so". In practice, the Commission has never examined a case in which "adequate justification" was shown to exist."

From this link to PCC site

www.pcc.org.uk/advice/editorials-detail.html?article=NzM0Nw==

Hope you get this resolved asap.

MsMarthaMay · 15/09/2015 04:56

Oh wow I did t realise that you'd be able to find the article that way. I'll report myself too. Thank you Flowers

OP posts:
twirlypoo · 15/09/2015 05:19

I've reported it as well - I hope your ok op and can get some help removing the article today Flowers

goddessofsmallthings · 15/09/2015 06:57

Having read what I assume to be the article in question, it does not appear to be in breach of the law or the Editors' Code of Conduct as set out by the Press Complaints Commission as it cannot be said that the victim's right to lifelong anonymity has been compromised in any way.

The article gives the year and the town in which the offences were committed but makes no reference to there being any relationship between the unnamed woman and the offender and, as such, the victim could be any woman of any age.

As far as can be ascertained, only one article relating to the case has been publshed to date therefore the issue of jigsaw identification of the victim does not apply.

I appreciate this is not what you want to hear, but it's unlikely you have any grounds for complaint and I am concerned you were not warned beforehand that local and/or national press coverage of the case is always a possibility in cases of this nature, as it is with any case dealt with in the Magistrates' or the Crown Courts which is not heard in camera.

It should be noted that the sentence as reported does not concur with that which you stated was handed down in your previous thread and I would suggest you seek clarification from the Court as to its exact length and also request the precise terms of the SOPO (Sexual Offences Prevention Order) which you were told, or are under the impression, was made as a 'restraining order' for your protection.

Without wishing to be a harbinger of further doom, I am now wondering whether you have been informed that the offender has 28 days from the date the sentence was handed down to appeal its length and that he may request visits from his dc while he is in prison.

The publication of the article has obviously been a shock for you and it's to be hoped that, when your intital distress subsides, you will be able to see that the case has been properly reported in the most measured terms with far more attention being paid to the Judge's remarks than to the manner in which the offences were committed.

As is always the way with yesterday's news, the newspapers which contained the article are now being used to line cat litter trays, light fires, make papier-mâché, or have been consigned to recycling bins, and those who read the article will just as quickly forget it.

Furthermore, having any reference to the article removed from the internet will mean that women who may unwittingly become involved with the offender on his release from prison will be unable to discover his true nature by searching his name.

Ubik1 · 15/09/2015 07:13

Legally they can publish the court case and all the details. But with sex offences the victim should not be identified.

I'm really sorry, it must be a shock to suddenly see it in the paper. But it's quite normal to publish court cases.

Ubik1 · 15/09/2015 07:18

Jigsaw identification only occurs if other news outlets in other scenarios publish different information around victims/perpetrators. It wouldn't apply in this case because all news outlets have to withdraw victim's personal details by law.

MsMarthaMay · 15/09/2015 07:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TelephoneIgnoringMachine · 15/09/2015 07:46

Keep the texts. Speak with your police liaison officer and / or the paper asap as per above posters' advice. If people you know have identified you, the story should surely be pulled ASAP.

Ubik1 · 15/09/2015 07:49

I'm so sorry.

The reason that court cases are published is the idea that 'justice must be seen to be done.' It's a public shaming for the guilty party.

If you feel strong enough, you could contact the paper regarding the accuracy of the report. You could also question the level of detail they give about the offence - when I was s news editor we would cut much of the detail out. People don't need to read that. They need to know who the bastard is.

Do you have a police liaison officer? Could they contact the newspaper on your behalf?

MsMarthaMay · 15/09/2015 07:53

I do have a liaison officer. She not in until later this morning. I have emailed her but I'll phone her as soon as she's in.

OP posts:
Ubik1 · 15/09/2015 07:59

Yes phone her. And take it from there - you might be able get them to amend the level of detail and rethink their policy in future.

intheHeartoftheCity · 15/09/2015 08:00
Flowers
goddessofsmallthings · 15/09/2015 08:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Penfold007 · 15/09/2015 08:11

Martha you've already been to hell and back you can get through this. None of this is your fault and you have nothing to be ashamed of. Hold your head high and be brave, you had the courage and strength to report him and give evidence in court, many women never find that courage.

IAmNotDarling · 15/09/2015 08:13

OP I've reported your post from 0743 because from the info given I could find the case.

Hold your head high and be brave is great advice.

Blu · 15/09/2015 08:47

Martha, I am so sorry this had happened to you.

If you were at my school gate I would view you as a hero amongst women and admire you.

Let him rot in jail and enjoy your freedom.

I am not underestimating your distress at this unwanted intrusion into your privacy, but just telling you how I view it from an outsider's perspective.

Are you getting any ongoing support? Counselling via your GP or anything?