David Goodwillie

[Chicken Balti Pie]

That second paragraph is sadly inaccurate. The rate of prosecutions for r a p e now stands at 1.4% of reported cases. For s e x u a l assaults it is 3.3%. Those rates are lower than ever, and it's openly said now that r a p e has effectively been decriminalised. And those are prosecution figures, NOT convictions. The fact that Goodwillie wasnt convicted is no surprise, and is no indication of innocence.

There is an epidemic of s e x u a l violence against women and girls - 1 in 4 over 16s have been attacked in this way. Something needs to change.

You're forgetting that those stats are for 2020. David Goodwillie was accused in 2011 when it was policy to prosecute at all costs. In 2011 stats, police recorded just over 50,000 cases of ***ual offences of which just under 10,000 proceeded to the magistrate court. So we are talking about a 20% rate going to court. If you account for the fact weirdly a lot of ***ual offences are just a caution and that a police report doesn't necessarily mean they have caught a suspect, that is quite a high figure!

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it isn't an issue, I'm just saying that at a time when ***ual assault prosecutions were higher, they didn't have evidence to go through with it in this case and I feel it's a murky area to go off civil court cases where it is a single judge presiding with a lower bar for proof. I am aware that judgement was upheld by the court of appeal but it's not a retrial in that case and they would have to prove that there was a clear error in procedure.

[cher1]

You're forgetting that those stats are for 2020. David Goodwillie was accused in 2011 when it was policy to prosecute at all costs. In 2011 stats, police recorded just over 50,000 cases of ***ual offences of which just under 10,000 proceeded to the magistrate court. So we are talking about a 20% rate going to court. If you account for the fact weirdly a lot of ***ual offences are just a caution and that a police report doesn't necessarily mean they have caught a suspect, that is quite a high figure!

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it isn't an issue, I'm just saying that at a time when ***ual assault prosecutions were higher, they didn't have evidence to go through with it in this case and I feel it's a murky area to go off civil court cases where it is a single judge presiding with a lower bar for proof. I am aware that judgement was upheld by the court of appeal but it's not a retrial in that case and they would have to prove that there was a clear error in procedure.

Take your point about prosecution rates for s e xual accounts being higher back then, guess I was responding to your point: 'in the day and age where the CPS ARE instructed to prosecute at all costs' which is sadly not the case. I agree though that Goodwillie's lack of prosecution should be looked at in the light of 2011 figures, you're right. R a p e prosecutions were at 18% back then, so you could still say he had an 82% chance of not being prosecuted. Pretty good stats in his favour I'd say.

To those who asked about the previous stats, yes they are England, and yes they are recent. There's been a huge increase in reports of s e xual offences to police. This study makes frankly terrifying reading: https://www.theguardian.com/society/...le-uk-students