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As the number of abuse victims in England and Wales taking their own lives rises, pressure is mounting on coroners to acknowledge the role violence, control and coercion can play ....
IN 2013, a woman known as Miss M was raped while on a night-out in Fife. Two years later, when her case was taken to a High Court trial, the jury reached a verdict of not proven. Recounting how she felt when this news was delivered, Miss M said: It was an insult to the trauma I had been through and to the tenacity I had shown over the last two years … the not proven verdict felt like I had been given a life sentence.” Scotland is highly unusual in allowing juries to reach a not proven verdict in criminal trials. Dubbed “that bastard verdict” by Sir Walter Scott, it is often perceived as an acquittal laced with a spicy caveat: we actually think you did it, but the evidence isn’t quite there. Not surprisingly, it’s a verdict reached disproportionately in rape and attempted rape cases where open-and-shut evidence is notoriously difficult to obtain. Victims are left with a lack of closure, a mistrust of the justice system and a sense of shame; if only they’d tried ....
Fatal truth: how the suicide of Alex Reid exposed the hidden death toll of domestic violence theguardian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theguardian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.