Woman’s Seven-Year Ordeal Of Rape And Abuse In Council Care

A woman with the mental age of eight and living in council care was raped or sexually assaulted as many as 12 times yet her assailants were never brought to justice, a damning report concludes today.

It lambasts the Crown Office, police, social work and health professionals for failing to protect the woman and prosecute the three men, who carried out the attacks between 1999 and 2006, when the woman was 58-65.

The Mental Welfare Commission, which today publishes the report, Justice Denied, said despite several reports to police and referrals to procurators-fiscal, the men were never taken to court.

It adds that her case is far from unique, saying: “The circumstances which allowed Miss A to be sexually assaulted, repeatedly, without those who assaulted her being brought to justice, are ones which are common throughout Scotland.”

Miss A, who has been in care since she was eight, competed in the Special Olympics, but is now not allowed out on her own because her attackers still live nearby. The commission fear this may be a breach of her human rights. Article 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities places a requirement on the state to “ensure effective access to justice for adults with learning disabilities on an equal basis with others”.

The report and its numerous recommendations are already being discussed with the Scottish Government and authorities concerned.

It states: “From 1999 to 2006, Miss A was believed to have been subjected to no fewer than 12 incidents of rape, attempted rape and serious sexual assault which were the focus of this investigation. Four of these incidents, all of which were reported to the police and the Procurator Fiscal Service, involved one man.

“There is something wrong in a system that allows repeated serious sexual offences against a vulnerable person with learning disabilities, often by the same person, to go unchallenged by society. This is especially concerning as there is compelling research evidence which suggests that people with learning disabilities are more likely to be subject to serious sexual assaults than the general population.

“The investigation team believe that each of the above parties – individual practitioners, the police and the Procurator Fiscal Service may have played a part, to a greater or lesser degree, in effectively denying Miss A equal access to justice and protection under the law. The investigation team were struck by the fact that, despite numerous referrals by the police to the procurator-fiscal, none of these cases proceeded to prosecution.”

The Mental Welfare Commission hopes that the recommendations in the report will ensure that such cases are prevented in future.

George Kappler, the social work commissioner who led the report team, said: “What our investigation shows is that this is not just a matter for the criminal justice system, but for those front-line professionals working in health and social care, whose early actions can determine the longer-term outcomes for a person in their care.

“We have some way to go before we can say that people with learning disabilities can access justice on an equal basis to other Scottish citizens.

“We have started discussions with the Scottish Government about the way forward. They realise there is a problem in this area. This is about holding people to account and we will follow it up and will be looking for action plans from the relevant authorities.”

Norman Dunning, chief executive of Enable Scotland, the charity which supports those with learning disabilities, believes attitudinal change is required.

“We know of other instances not dissimilar to this when sexual assaults against people with learning disabilities are not followed through.

“The problem is not really with the law. The problem is attitudinal. It is not just social work but police, health boards and the procurators-fiscal. This is institutional discrimination. We need to get them to see that people with learning disabilities are the same as everyone else.

“The guys who did this to Miss A should have been picked up and arrested but because the authorities have failed to protect her, they have restricted her freedom and that is a dubious legal position.”

A spokeswoman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “We are keen that vulnerable people, including people with learning disabilities, should be able to report crime with confidence that it will be thoroughly investigated and they will receive all appropriate support.

“There are particular challenges involved in bringing a prosecution before the court where the victim has severe learning difficulties. It is in our interests, as prosecutors, to seek to address and where possible overcome those difficulties, and that is exactly what our staff did in this case.

“We need to take the advice of experts, and in this case we took the advice of the foremost recognised experts in Scotland, who knew Miss A and her circumstances and needs. The advice received was that Miss A would not be a reliable witness. It is the prosecutor’s duty only to prosecute where there is sufficient admissible and reliable evidence; to prosecute in the absence of such evidence would be wrong and ultimately not in the interests of justice.”