You know it doesn't happen very often, so when it does, let's celebrate. It's the DM reporting a rape case in pretty neutral terms.....and the defendant was found guilty. Amazing.

[Greythorne]

DM link

I give them a lot of stick, but here's a case of a woman being very drunk, a bloke who's a pillar of the community, a rape accusation and a guilty verdict. AND the DM have reported it without the usual misogynistic crap filter. Credit where credit is due.

Thanks - will check it out. Good to see they can do it.

Overall it seems like a thorough report.

However there are a few things that I'm not too keen on. Firstly why is the victim described as a "married mother" in the subtitle? Why mention that at all? Why not say "Lawyer" or "Stay at home mother"? The rapist is described as a "Huntsman" not as a "Married Father." It's my feeling that the term "married mother" is used to present the victim in a more poignant, credible light - the implication is that raping someone who is married and has children is "worse" than raping, say a single call girl.

Also, I know it's not the DM's fault but I don't like the way the judge said Norrish "took advantage" of his victim. "Taking advantage" is a meaningless term - he didn't take advantage of her, he raped her.

And finally why does it mention that other people at the ball claimed she was calm after the attack? Why is that relevant? The only reason it would be mentioned is to subtly throw doubt on her story, surely?

Fuckin' ell.

Even the comments look reasonable.

Callin

I agree, it is not perfect. And i particularly noticed the "people stated she was calm" line as that seems irrelevant now he has been found guilty.

All the same, it seems like a huge, huge improvement of the usual "wronged woman cries rape and ruins decent man's life" reporting we often see in the DM.

I dunno, I wondered if the "calm" thing was them pointing out that victims don't behave the way they're supposed to?

Is that too hopeful for the Mail?

I mean, we would actually be living in a parallel universe if the Mail decided it was going to work on dispelling rape myths, wouldn't we?

Surely?

Isn't the Daily Mail a very anti-hunting paper? Because, while it's great that they are reporting a rape trial so reasonable WRT the victim, there does seem to be a certain amount of anti-hunting feeling in the piece.

Basil

I love your wishful thinking :)

Just read this in The Times. They report the judge as saying it was "a grave abuse of a vulnerable woman." - no mention of taking advantage. But yep, they squeeze married mother into the first paragraph and mention his marital status only in the sixth!

Why is he getting four years to be released after two on license? I thought that the minimum sentence was five years?

The report while the trial was ongoing, a few days ago, flagged up exactly how much the woman had to drink in the top bit, you know, one of the headlines. I found that pretty annoying. here