One Conviction For 109 Reported Rapes

Rapists are almost ten times more likely to be found guilty in some parts of Scotland than in others. A conviction rate of less than 1 per cent in the Grampian area has sparked questions over the way some police forces are investigating the crime.

The Scotsman has learned the country’s senior officers are drawing up national guidelines for investigating rapes amid growing concern over inconsistencies in how cases are being handled.

While some police forces refer all rape reports to dedicated family protection units (FPUs), complaints in other parts of the country are dealt with by CID officers.

Anti-rape campaigners fear the latter may not be as well equipped as specialist officers to deal with victims, who are extremely traumatised and often reluctant to come forward.

Their concerns are fuelled by wide regional variations in rape conviction rates. The figures, the most recent available, show the overall conviction rate in Scotland fell to an all-time low of 3.9 per cent in 2005-6.

However, the rate in the North-east was a mere 0.9 per cent, with 109 rapes being reported but only one case ending in a conviction.

In the Lothian and Borders force area, 220 rapes were reported and three rapists were brought to justice – a conviction rate of 1.4 per cent.

Tayside had a conviction rate of 3.3 per cent, with 90 cases reported and three convictions. In Dumfries and Galloway, the conviction rate was 3.4 per cent, compared with Strathclyde (5.4 per cent), Fife (5.7 per cent) and the Northern Constabulary area (8.7 per cent).

The Crown published a detailed report last year on how it aimed to improve the prosecution of rape and other serious sexual assaults, and the Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini, is expected to give an update to MSPs this week on the progress made.

Sandy Brindley, the network co-ordinator for Rape Crisis Scotland, described the wide regional fluctuations in the conviction rate for rape as “hugely worrying”. She said: “A conviction rate of under 4 per cent itself is highly alarming, but there are also hugely worrying regional variations, with a conviction rate of under 1 per cent in Grampian. There are clearly different systems across Scotland, with some areas having specialist police units that investigate reports of rape, and others leaving it to regular CID officers.

“This is something that needs to be looked at urgently. We need to find out why some cases are succeeding and others clearly aren’t, and whether local issues are to blame.”

CID officers, rather than members of FPUs, investigate rape cases in several parts of the country, including Dundee and Glasgow. But in other areas, such as Edinburgh and Dumfries and Galloway, such crimes are handled by specially-trained FPU staff.

One well-placed police source said: “There are bound to be differences when you have eight forces, both in staffing allocations and in capabilities.”

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) said: “There are revised guidelines being developed in light of the Crown Office review last year. A national investigators’ manual is being developed that addresses the report’s recommendations.”

Scotland’s chief constables called last year for the introduction of specialist rape prosecutors to tackle the country’s “unacceptable” conviction rate for sex crimes.

ACPOS and the Superintendents’ Association believe specially trained lawyers, who would take charge of rape cases from investigation to trial, would raise the country’s conviction rate, which is one of the lowest in the developed world.

Officials with Grampian Police said 55 per cent of rapes reported in their area in 2005-6 were detected – meaning more than half of cases were referred to the procurator-fiscal with a report naming an alleged perpetrator.

A force spokesman said so-called “stranger rape” cases were dealt with specially-trained CID officers, with reported rapes involving relatives being handled by the force’s FPU.

But Bill Aitken, the Conservatives’ justice spokesman, called for uniformity across the country. “There is a need for the police to apply a consistent approach Scotland-wide,” he said.

“Rape is a very difficult crime to prosecute. Men are, of course, entitled to a defence, but it is an appalling crime and I would like to see everyone who has committed these crimes being convicted. “However, it is always going to be difficult to achieve that.”

A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said the relationship between police and the procurator- fiscal formed “an important part of the review”.

A Scottish Executive spokesman said: “The justice secretary is clear that rape is a despicable crime and those found guilty deserve to be punished and society protected.

“No victim should be dissuaded from coming forward because they fear that the law is unclear or that their experience will not be taken seriously.”