Client accused of rape by ex-wife receives NFA

Case study summary

Our client was accused of rape, sexual assault and controlling behaviour.

We maintained contact with the police and provided evidence that his accuser had been trying to contact our client and had undermined the case. The police had no choice but to end the case.

Case study

We were approached by this client shortly after his first interview with police. At this interview it had been revealed to him that his wife, who he had been rebuilding a relationship with, had accused him of rape, sexual assault and controlling & coercive behaviour.

At this interview, our client had answered all of the questions that he was asked by police and had explained that at no time had he committed any of the offences he was accused of. Police seized his phone and released him on bail conditions not to contact or visit his wife.

Our client was then left without support and approached our expert defence lawyers to represent him in this case.

We immediately established contact with the investigating officer and acquired a copy of the interview recording. From this we were able to prepare a lengthy transcript and analyse the comments made by our client to the police.

We also took instructions from our client and drafted a comprehensive background of his relationship with the complainant, where things started to go wrong, and detailing his defence.

As the investigation progressed, our client received repeated contact from his wife asking to speak with him and rectify their relationship. It became clear that she was no longer interested in supporting the police case, however, her actions posed a risk to our client who could have been further arrested for breaching his bail by no fault of his own.

We carefully advised our client about the situation and the impact this would have on the case. Since he did not respond, his wife escalated her actions by attending his address and threatening to damage his property that was still in their family home.

We wrote to the investigating officer to make them aware of the attempts to contact our client and provided evidence that the complainant was threatening to destroy our client's property.

Finally, after a prolonged case, the police took no further action and our client was able to return to his life. During the course of the investigation he had been able to find a new job, one that would have been at risk had he been charged, and it was especially relieving for our client to be able to continue his career.

Our client was also able to move on with his personal life and make alternative arrangements for seeing his children.