Revealed: The text message that cleared an innocent student of rape

News
World

Author: Keiran Southern, Daily Mail,
Publish Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2017, 8:14AM

Warning: Graphic language

A rape trial against a student spectacularly collapsed after texts emerged from the alleged victim in which she told a friend the sex "wasn't against my will".

Liam Allan, 22, was "dragged through hell" for two years after police failed to provide messages proving his innocence to his defence team.

In the texts, the alleged victim asked for more sex after the attack was said to have taken place, according to the Daily Mail.

And one of the messages irrefutably cleared Allan.

Sent to a female friend during a discussion on her sexual experiences with Allan on September 3, 2015, before she had made a complaint, the accuser said: "It wasn't against my will or anything."

The texts held by police should have been made available to both the defence and the prosecution almost two years ago but were not due to "sheer incompetence".

And it has emerged Allan, a psychology student at Greenwich University, is planning to sue the police and the CPS for their bungled handling of the case.

His lawyer Simone Meerabux told the Sun on Sunday: "Mr Allan lost two years of his life because of gross negligence.

"We are considering legal action against the police and the CPS."

"He said he recommended in his report to the CPS that I should not face charges. He didn't expand on what he put in his report."

Two hours later – "as I came out of a lecture" – Allan received a call to say he would be charged with six rapes and one sexual assault.

"Having been given hope, my world was instantly turned upside down," he said.

Last Friday, the day after the trial collapsed, a series of messages from Mr Allan's accuser were disclosed revealing her secret fantasies about being raped and choked during sex.

These were in reference to another partner.

Prosecutors did not hand over the phone messages, saying they were "too personal" to share and "not relevant".

But The Mail on Sunday can today reveal the existence of another message referring directly to her sexual experiences with Allan – which cast doubt on the girl's story from the outset.

"It wasn't against my will or anything," she wrote in a text to a friend. It was sent before she made her complaint.

Allan said: "This clearly undermines her case. Why didn't we get to see this? It wasn't too personal."

Speaking about the moment his lawyer told him the case against him had collapsed, Allen said: "Simone rang me on December 7. I was bracing myself for bad news because up until then it had all been bad news.

Allan faced 12 years in prison had the texts not been released. Photo / via Facebook

"She had told me that the CPS had decided to drop the whole case and for a second I was speechless and then I just started screaming the whole house down. And then everyone started coming round to the house to congratulate and hug me."

Although Scotland Yard and the CPS are looking into what went wrong, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said it had not been asked to investigate any of the officers involved in the case.

Police sources pointed out that no investigation is carried out by one officer alone, "and this case, like all investigations, was overseen by the officer's line managers".

Calls are also growing for a wide-ranging, independent investigation into the disclosure system, as well as the failure of so many rape trials – which could see Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders grilled by MPs.

Conservative MP Nigel Evans, who was taken to court over false rape claims, added: "I hope the Justice Select Committee can hold a full inquiry into it. Lessons have to be learned."

Bob Neill, chairman of the Justice Select Committee, said he will raise the matter of disclosure with the Attorney-General in the Commons this week, and that his committee could investigate it further.

He added: "I'm not at all convinced that the DPP has got a grip on it."

Angela Rafferty, QC, chairwoman of the Criminal Bar Association, said that without the intervention of the barristers in court, Mr Allan "would have suffered an appalling miscarriage of justice" because of the failure of police and the CPS.

She said the failure was "not an isolated incident" and added that police and the CPS may have had "unconsciously bias" towards people who report sex offences.

Last night, the Met said it was "urgently reviewing this investigation and will be working with the CPS to understand exactly what has happened in this case".

The CPS said: "We will now be conducting a management review together with the Metropolitan Police to examine the way in which this case was handled."

DAMNING RAPE FANTASY MESSAGES

September 2, 2015

To a male friend

Accuser:

"You clearly don't love me because you keep revoking my sexual advances, have I got to drug you?"

September 3, 2015
Accuser: "People need 3 things in life: food, water and sex."

Accuser: "Sometimes sex is the number 1 priority, I'm really not joking to be honest I always think with my d*** lol."

Accuser: "You know it's always nice to be sexually assaulted without breaking the law"'

September 3, 2015

To a female friend in an exchange discussing her sexual experiences with Allan:

Accuser: "It wasn't against my will or anything."

September 3, 2015
Accuser: "Love is nice but sex is essential. In all seriousness, I am so frustrated now there is zero chance of me lasting like nine months without sex? I'm struggling now. How the hell do people go months and months without doing it?"

October 12, 2015
To a male friend
Accuser: "You sexy f***er."

Male friend: "The chocking [choking] I find it to [too] hot, guess we can be messed up together?"

On same date to female friend Accuser: "Well are you going to take me into the park and rape me? In the bushes."

November 2015
A group WhatsApp conversation
Woman friend: "You guys are so sweet I feel like raping you all."

Accuser: "Well 18 is a special number and we love you."

Woman friend: "Stop because I seriously will rape you in your sleep."

Accuser: "I told you it's fine, I'd consent."