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© Thomson Reuters 2020.British lawmaker arrested after rape accusation, Sunday Times reports
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© Thomson Reuters 2020.
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Goodlucktoyou
Just another one.
Ah_so
Do you want two male eye witnesses? I appreciate that in some cultures the witness statement of a woman is not considered to have the same weight as a man's, but I strongly disagree with this backwards thinking.
nandakandamanda
Quick note, 'lawmaker' is an Americanism used to make the news easy to understand for folks across the pond. Not in the original Sunday Times article.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/tory-ex-minister-arrested-over-rape-qdm897rv2
albaleo
The person has not been charged (at least, not yet). The arrest is basically for questioning. It's within police powers in England to question people suspected of a crime. The word "arrest" is used in such circumstances. I.e. "You are required to come down to the police station to answer some questions."
(I've read the person has subsequently been released on bail. Which suggests he is still under suspicion.)
Luddite
The U.K. media has more details. It’s a Tory MP and former Minister to boot. The woman approached Tory Whip Mark Spencer and Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg about the ordeal several months ago. Spencer told her to report it and did nothing else. Rees-Mogg did nothing. One assault was so brutal the woman needed hospital treatment.
Jim McHugh
The Rochford Tory Party would like to make it clear that this story has nothing to do with Mark Francois. They have this on the authority of that model of probity Dominic Cummings, and his assistant Johnson.
albaleo
So why don't you tell us what you think the police should do when someone makes an allegation of rape? Some of your comments above imply they should do nothing at all. I hope I misread those.
Skip
The comment re Jacob rees Mogg doing nothing is not actually true, he is not a police officer and is not for him to investigate . The lady concerned did not speak to him direct her allegations were made to the Chief Whip who rightly referred her to the independent panel Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) to take the matter forward, an MP also spoke to Rees Mogg and he rightly said the accusations were very serious and advsied the MP to get the lady to go to the police to report it which she then did . So he did not do nothing.
ohara
Yes, one woman is accusing one man of rape. There's no requirement in the law that more than one person must make an accusation;
So, not sharia yet.
Vanessa Carlisle
Assume? What did I assume? I made a mistake thinking "a lawmaker and former minister" were two people yes. But an assumption? What assumption?
A lack of information was a potential part of my complaint. See, I am just not seeing sufficient cause for an arrest, nor has the information you provided made see it either.
Obviously! My trouble is I just don't see how any of the information provided can fairly be considered cause for arrest. I can see no benefit to the investigation. I can see no prevention of a possible flight risk. I can understand an investigation itself. I can understand a trial. But arrest? Because a woman said a man raped her repeatedly several months ago?
The three posters above this post you all really surprise me that you either completely trust that the police have done the fair and correct thing based on information they are not sharing, or, that the information given thus far justifies the arrest of a person. I don't know. Maybe you think arrest has no downside at all for someone who may be 100 percent innocent? Or maybe you think any man with a finger pointed at him must surely be guilty of something? Sorry, but I can't understand your thinking at all. Can you even imagine having police clap cart you off because someone you broke up with months ago made an accusation against you? Can you even see that happening to a completely innocent person and imagine what that would be like?
Vanessa Carlisle
Indeed I can and often do. That said, the discussions below the articles are often a treasure trove of information which in fact sometimes points to where to start looking for accurate information before weeding through disinformation. In fact it is the very discussion why I am here. My trust for the press is limited.
And you don't need to reply to me while ignoring every single question I posit, including the ones put directly to you. You can also stop accusing me of things you cannot or will even try to back up.
Also you seem to be very insistent on missing my point that about the (lack of) justice behind arresting a person on such bare accusation.
Vanessa Carlisle
Out on bail without being charged? Yep. They do that in the U.K. Also they put restrictions on the person as a condition to bail even though they have that money and the person is not charged. I am just flabbergasted that people can read such things and not feel anything is seriously wrong with this picture.
Vanessa Carlisle
What? All from one woman? Two men are arrested and in custody based on nothing but verbal allegations from one woman with the freshest alleged incident from 7 months ago? What ever happened to voluntary questioning? Its almost like they are guilty until proven guilty isn't it?