'I was robbed of justice': woman raped as child endured years of delays in bringing father to trial

A woman who was raped by her father as a child has told how he died before standing trial after she endured almost nine years of police and court delays.

- Emine Sinmaz

Rachel believes she was robbed of justice by the excessively long police investigation, which left her feeling suicidal. She waited almost seven years for her father to be charged with abusing her and a second person. His trial was postponed due to a barristers’ strike and he died six months before facing justice.

Rachel, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, described the delays and her treatment as barbaric and inhumane. “In all it was a decade, so it was absolutely isolating and harrowing. I wanted to end my life so many times because it was too much. I couldn’t mentally cope with it all,” she said.

She has successfully taken legal action against Cambridgeshire constabulary and last week received a written apology from the force, more than 11 years after she reported her father’s abuse.

Rachel is one of more than 37,000 sexual offences complainants who have waited more than three years for their cases to be investigated over the last decade, according to responses to freedom of information requests. A super-complaint was filed against police forces in England and Wales last month over these delays.

She said the police handling of her case was “diabolical” after reporting the abuse in December 2014, when two male officers visited her home late at night to take her statement.

Her father was arrested soon after and bailed. Rachel said the officer in charge indicated the police investigation would take 18 months, but said it was a strong case.