Man's 'hell' over false rape claim

Man's 'hell' over false rape claim 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.”

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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)

Jammy Donut says...
4:52pm Tue 19 Jan 10

Is he just winding up his claim for wrongful arrest ?

southy says...
4:53pm Tue 19 Jan 10

del my old friend, i glad you cleared your name, i for one would not belive it from the start, i hope all those people who gave you grief say they are sorry now.

Big Mac says...
5:13pm Tue 19 Jan 10

Not bad for you Southy!

Ozmosis says...
5:23pm Tue 19 Jan 10

Jammy Donut wrote:
Is he just winding up his claim for wrongful arrest ?
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

stickymcglue says...
6:13pm Tue 19 Jan 10

Jammy Donut wrote:
Is he just winding up his claim for wrongful arrest ?
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....

Derek of Dibden Purlieu says...
6:21pm Tue 19 Jan 10

****but was much shorter and lighter than the 18-stone, 6ft 3inch suspect England had described to police.****

But the Police pressed on regardless. Unbelievable stupidity.

Here, There says...
6:25pm Tue 19 Jan 10

"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.

m.williamsgirl@talktalk.net says...
6:52pm Tue 19 Jan 10

i am so glad justice was done derek is my uncle and he would of never done such a thing, his life has been turned upside down by all this and has now got to move on from it but its something that he will never forget or get over and as off all the money shes waisted on police and test all of which is tax payers money we r all thinking of u derek love susan michelle ,xxxxx

stickymcglue says...
7:10pm Tue 19 Jan 10

Here, There wrote:
"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.
ARE YOU SERIOUS !!!!
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 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.

stickymcglue says...
8:20pm Tue 19 Jan 10

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

SotonLad says...
8:22pm Tue 19 Jan 10

stickymcglue wrote:
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
You're a moron!

stickymcglue says...
9:08pm Tue 19 Jan 10

SotonLad wrote:
stickymcglue wrote:
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
You're a moron!
you should join hampshire police ,,,,, you have the vocabulary sorted and the rational for your arguments prefected ,,, you would fit in !!! LOL !!!

freemantlegirl2 says...
7:31am Wed 20 Jan 10

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!

espanuel says...
8:28am Wed 20 Jan 10

Thankyou freemantelgirl2. It seems everybody wants to knock somebody when they are trying to do there job even if isnt to the readers satisfaction. As you say basiclly hope it never happens to them or there family. Happy New Year.

Linesman says...
10:40am Wed 20 Jan 10

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
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!
Well said! IF he had been a rapist, tried and found guilty, I wonder what sentence he would have received!
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

his name had to be cleared as ppl still had it in there heads he was guilty and could not go to the pubs he loves cus all the looks he was given thats why hes cleared his name now he an walk in there with his head held hight you go derek ????????????//

southy says...
12:56pm Wed 20 Jan 10

Big Mac wrote:
Not bad for you Southy!
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.

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