Man's 'hell' over false rape claim (From This is Hampshire)
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Man's 'hell' over false rape claim
4:32pm Tuesday 19th January 2010 in News
By Andrew Napier, Winchester Chief Reporter
Man's 'hell' over false rape claim
A HAMPSHIRE man has spoken of his nightmare at being falsely accused of rape after the woman who made up the lies was jailed.
Derek Cummings was facing at least eight years in prison after Roseanne England, 21, concocted a story about being sexually attacked in her home.
Her lies led to Mr Cummings being arrested, held for 28 hours before he was exonerated 24 days later. He had his DNA taken and his home searched.
At the time of the fictitious ‘attack’ last May, he had been walking his cocker spaniel in the New Forest and had no alibi, Winchester Crown Court heard.
As England was jailed for 18 months yesterday, an emotional Mr Cummings said: “My family has been through hell.
It is going to affect me for a long time.
“Rape is like being accused of murder.
There are certain pubs I still cannot go in. People think that I’m guilty.”
Mr Cummings, a 59-year-old retired Esso engineer from Fawley, added: “I have mixed feelings about her sentence. I don’t want to see a 21-year-old go to jail, but she had plenty of time to come clean.
She knew I had been arrested and was innocent. I take no joy in her going to prison. I hope she gets help.”
The court heard that Mr Cummings partially matched the description of the ‘rapist’ but was much shorter and lighter than the 18-stone, 6ft 3inch suspect England had described to police.
Mr Cummings said he had no complaints about the police and had been “gobsmacked” by his similarity to an efit of the suspect. England, of Fawley Road, Hythe, admitted perverting the course of justice and showed no emotion as she was jailed for 18 months.
Judge Keith Cutler said there were other aggravating factors: the element of pre-planning; the waste of police time; and the fact she had let down future victims of real rapes as this case might cast doubt on future complaints.
Mark Florida-James, prosecuting, said England had invented a story of a stranger knocking on her door claiming his car had broken down and he needed to use her phone. Mr Florida-James said: “Mr Cummings is entirely innocent, a man of good character.”
Costly web of lies
ROSEANNE England’s lies sparked a major police operation: 73 members of Hampshire police staff were needlessly diverted; 115 exhibits were seized; 54 statements taken; £6,700 wasted on overtime and £6,727 spent on forensic examinations.
The story unravelled after forensic analysis including the fact the ripped clothing had been done with a sharp implement.
Comments(18)
southy
says...
4:53pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Big Mac
says...
5:13pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Ozmosis
says...
5:23pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Jammy Donut wrote:Who can blame him if he is? His DNA will now be held on record indefinitely.... even though it's been deemed illegal by the European Court of Human Rights
Is he just winding up his claim for wrongful arrest ?
stickymcglue
says...
6:13pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Jammy Donut wrote:I Hope he sues the police to high heaven and the copper in charge of that farce has a stain on his career ..... He could get tens of thousands once a good lawyer digs into the details of the keystone cops meets krusty the clown investigation....
Is he just winding up his claim for wrongful arrest ?
Derek of Dibden Purlieu
says...
6:21pm Tue 19 Jan 10
But the Police pressed on regardless. Unbelievable stupidity.
Here, There
says...
6:25pm Tue 19 Jan 10
I can only assume some of you did not read the article, I would suggest it is the accuser who should be sued not those who investigated her complaint and by Mr Cummings own admission he was similar in appearance, I hope Mr Cummings and his family can now move on, this published statement is clearly testament to his character.
m.williamsgirl@talktalk.net
says...
6:52pm Tue 19 Jan 10
stickymcglue
says...
7:10pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Here, There wrote:ARE YOU SERIOUS !!!!
"Mr Cummings said he had no complaints about the police and had been “gobsmacked” by his similarity to an efit of the suspect" I can only assume some of you did not read the article, I would suggest it is the accuser who should be sued not those who investigated her complaint and by Mr Cummings own admission he was similar in appearance, I hope Mr Cummings and his family can now move on, this published statement is clearly testament to his character.
this investigation looks like it was conducted by a reception class at primary school ,,,, no, someone should be advising this guy to take those idiots to the cleaners..... his life has been damaged by negligent and incompitant police work by people who clearly did not know what the **** they were doing , we pay council tax for professionals not clowns !? get this guy some serious compensation and get some stupid , lazy and incompitant copper sacked.....
espanuel
says...
7:45pm Tue 19 Jan 10
stickymcglue
says...
8:20pm Tue 19 Jan 10
espanuel wrote:he DID NOT DO IT !! THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE !! THE POLICE WERE FABRICATING A CASE AGAINST HIM !! what planet are you on ??
stickymcglue and jammy donut you must have small minds the guy was putting his side of the story and for having a go at the police the way the investigation was handled DO YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION THEN OR IS THIS HEARSAY ONCE AGAIN. As dereck said he had no problems with the police, basicly they where doing there job. If you dont know anything about the investigation write something positive. Do you know how long it takes to do the test for DNA no you dont and also to get the other evidence analyzed no you dont. I just hope you are not in his position in the future. Go and get a life. Why am I writing this the reason being I know somebody very close who was in the same situation and looking forward to at least 12 years it wasnt until it got to court and she admitted she was wrong.
any decent police investigation would have looked for "proof" , "motive" , "opportunity" , "tendancy" I could go on ,,,, there was NONE of this and this man was arrested and remanded on bail on the ramblings of a mad woman with absolutely no follow up whatsoever and it seems no one bothered to examine the clothes that a child could have told them were cut and not torn....... I am staggered that these clowns may get away with this ,,,, this investigation was a total and utter shambles and if this guy does not sue then the world has gone completely mad , the police have no right to arrest people on a whim with random parameters , this is 2010 UK , not 1950s East Germany
SotonLad
says...
8:22pm Tue 19 Jan 10
stickymcglue wrote:You're a moron!
espanuel wrote: stickymcglue and jammy donut you must have small minds the guy was putting his side of the story and for having a go at the police the way the investigation was handled DO YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION THEN OR IS THIS HEARSAY ONCE AGAIN. As dereck said he had no problems with the police, basicly they where doing there job. If you dont know anything about the investigation write something positive. Do you know how long it takes to do the test for DNA no you dont and also to get the other evidence analyzed no you dont. I just hope you are not in his position in the future. Go and get a life. Why am I writing this the reason being I know somebody very close who was in the same situation and looking forward to at least 12 years it wasnt until it got to court and she admitted she was wrong.he DID NOT DO IT !! THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE !! THE POLICE WERE FABRICATING A CASE AGAINST HIM !! what planet are you on ?? any decent police investigation would have looked for "proof" , "motive" , "opportunity" , "tendancy" I could go on ,,,, there was NONE of this and this man was arrested and remanded on bail on the ramblings of a mad woman with absolutely no follow up whatsoever and it seems no one bothered to examine the clothes that a child could have told them were cut and not torn....... I am staggered that these clowns may get away with this ,,,, this investigation was a total and utter shambles and if this guy does not sue then the world has gone completely mad , the police have no right to arrest people on a whim with random parameters , this is 2010 UK , not 1950s East Germany
stickymcglue
says...
9:08pm Tue 19 Jan 10
SotonLad wrote:you should join hampshire police ,,,,, you have the vocabulary sorted and the rational for your arguments prefected ,,, you would fit in !!! LOL !!!
stickymcglue wrote:You're a moron!espanuel wrote: stickymcglue and jammy donut you must have small minds the guy was putting his side of the story and for having a go at the police the way the investigation was handled DO YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION THEN OR IS THIS HEARSAY ONCE AGAIN. As dereck said he had no problems with the police, basicly they where doing there job. If you dont know anything about the investigation write something positive. Do you know how long it takes to do the test for DNA no you dont and also to get the other evidence analyzed no you dont. I just hope you are not in his position in the future. Go and get a life. Why am I writing this the reason being I know somebody very close who was in the same situation and looking forward to at least 12 years it wasnt until it got to court and she admitted she was wrong.he DID NOT DO IT !! THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE !! THE POLICE WERE FABRICATING A CASE AGAINST HIM !! what planet are you on ?? any decent police investigation would have looked for "proof" , "motive" , "opportunity" , "tendancy" I could go on ,,,, there was NONE of this and this man was arrested and remanded on bail on the ramblings of a mad woman with absolutely no follow up whatsoever and it seems no one bothered to examine the clothes that a child could have told them were cut and not torn....... I am staggered that these clowns may get away with this ,,,, this investigation was a total and utter shambles and if this guy does not sue then the world has gone completely mad , the police have no right to arrest people on a whim with random parameters , this is 2010 UK , not 1950s East Germany
freemantlegirl2
says...
7:31am Wed 20 Jan 10
this girl did every woman who has ever been raped a grave disservice and as restorative justice she should be made to meet real life victims. It would certainly make her think twice.
As for Mr Cummings still not being beleived, I hope those vacuous idiots in his local bars hang their heads in shame!
espanuel
says...
8:28am Wed 20 Jan 10
Linesman
says...
10:40am Wed 20 Jan 10
freemantlegirl2 wrote:Well said! IF he had been a rapist, tried and found guilty, I wonder what sentence he would have received!
FFS! the guy had no problem with police. As I keep saying rape cases are dealt with with 'belief' from the victim because there are often no witnesses. If this was your daughter, and police put up an e-fit and a man was arrested I bet you'd be baying for his blood and accuse the police of bodging the investigation then when he was released. YOu don't have the full facts of the investigation so how you can 'judge' the police on their quality of investigation is beyond me. They discovered that she wasn't telling the truth. Some people are good liars, and are convincing! The fact is that this girl as it fault, not the police who did everything in their power to try and investigate it. The poor guy concerned doesn't blame the police and even wants his accuser to get help. Sometimes it's just mindless to blame police without thinking about the wider issue of how rapes are dealt with and WHY! this girl did every woman who has ever been raped a grave disservice and as restorative justice she should be made to meet real life victims. It would certainly make her think twice. As for Mr Cummings still not being beleived, I hope those vacuous idiots in his local bars hang their heads in shame!
My betting is that it would have been considerably longer than what Miss England has been given plus he would have been added to the sex-offenders list and the victim's name would NOT have been made public!
I cannot understand why Mr Cummings' name was made public, especially as he had not been charged with any offence.
m.williamsgirl@talktalk.net
says...
11:54am Wed 20 Jan 10
southy
says...
12:56pm Wed 20 Jan 10
Big Mac wrote:well mac if you had noticed i stayed away from the last few news reports on this, knowing what crap is spouted out from the idiots that you get on here, and those bigger idiots who like to use multi names and clone other people names.
Not bad for you Southy!
Jammy Donut says...
4:52pm Tue 19 Jan 10