The Metropolitan police has made a landmark compensation payout over a flawed rape investigation by one of its elite Sapphire sexual assault units.
The Guardian first revealed in 2009 how a report of rape by a 15-year-old girl in 2005 was handed to a police constable in the Southwark Sapphire unit who should not even have been investigating such allegations.
An internal inquiry painted "a troubling picture of an inexperienced, over-burdened police officer with inadequate supervision working in an under-resourced unit", the Independent Police Complaints Commission said.
Important mobile-phone evidence was not secured and there was no search for forensic evidence at the alleged scene. A suspect was charged but was cleared by a jury. The judge in the case called the mistake over the phone a disgrace and a high-court judge later said the result might have been different if the matter had been "investigated properly".
The woman, a student who is now 23, sued the force, claiming its errors in the investigation had breached her human rights. She has accepted an offer of £15,000 to settle out of court, made after two and a half years of legal wrangling, during which the Met tried to get the case struck out.
Although the figure sounds modest, it is significantly higher than the sums of £5-6,000 that have been awarded by European courts in similar cases. It is thought to be the first time the Met has paid damages over a rape investigation in a case brought using human rights legislation.
The complainant's lawyer, Debaleena Dasgupta, said the settlement represented an important victory for women reporting rape, who she hoped would increasingly use human rights legislation to hold forces to account: "I hope the police will recognise that the failings in this case must never happen again, that they will properly resource departments, and will take from it that victims can seek accountability."
The internal inquiry in 2009 revealed that the unit manager's pleas to her superiors for more detectives went unanswered. "What we hope is that police officers will be able to say 'I need these resources to investigate this rape', and if they are getting refusals they can point to this case and say 'we could be liable'," Dasgupta said.
Had the complainant secured a court declaration that her human rights had been breached, it would have established in UK law that the police have a duty to properly investigate rape and sexual assault, setting a legal precedent.
The woman wanted to continue fighting for such a declaration, but felt forced to accept the settlement because rejection could have resulted in a liability to pay the Met's legal costs from the date the offer was made – even if she had won in court. That could have left her with tens of thousands of pounds of debt.
Her mother accused the force, which apologised to the family in 2006, of behaving appallingly during the civil case, leaving her feeling at times that they were trying to discredit her daughter: "The way they fought it was really dirty ... They were throwing everything at us in court; it was pretty horrendous …
"We had already been through the criminal system where they do discredit rape victims, and then it felt like we were going through it all again."
The Met said its original investigation was not good enough. "There are points of law and processes that are gone through with any legal claim received by the Metropolitan police service," a spokeswoman said. "We are aware of the victim's comments of distress at the legal proceedings, and that some legal arguments may have appeared insensitive to the victim, but that is not the intention of the MPS."
Sapphire moved under the command of Scotland Yard's specialist crime directorate in September 2009 with the aim of providing a more consistent service, she said.
The police initially offered the woman £8,000 to settle, then upped it to £15,000. "I don't believe such an offer would have been made unless they thought my client had a very good case," Dasgupta said.
The family's ordeal
'We exhausted every option'
Sally well remembers the day the man accused of raping her daughter, Rebecca, was found not guilty. "I knew I had to pick her up from school and tell her he had walked free," she says. "It was absolutely crushing."
It was the start of a battle with the Metropolitan police that would last more than six years, culminating in a civil claim launched in 2010. The family are frustrated that financial considerations meant they felt compelled to settle – their aim had never been to secure a payout – but are delighted to think the result may aid other women.
"I feel quite liberated that we exhausted every option and [as a result] people will probably be helped by my case," Rebecca says. But these have been difficult years for her. She has had severe depression, been in a violent relationship and attempted suicide on three occasions. Alcohol and drug use led to her abandoning her degree studies. "I was at my lowest point," she says. "I didn't want to feel the pain any more of all the things I had been through."
She is back at university now, but says she still has a long way to go. The criminal case made her feel "like I was out there by myself, and it's not nice feeling that you are alone. You should feel protected by institutions, but you don't, and it gave me a lot of problems that I still struggle with.
"You can't ever pay enough money for the emotional damage you've done to someone's mind."
The civil case was painful for her, too, she says, claiming the police's handling of the case was "a bit spiteful" at times.
Rebecca puts the victory down to her mother's determination. Sally says: "I used to be frightened to question my daughter's headmistress. Now I would stand up to the Queen. When it involves your children you'd stand up to anyone. Any mother will know that if your children are hurt, it hurts you more than someone hurting you.
"It doesn't matter what background you come from. If you've got good solicitors and the strength inside you, you can take these people on and win."
Names have been changed
