Report – Police Scotland – PIRC/00317/26
The Complaints
The complaints in this case arose after the applicant reported that her ex-husband had raped and attempted to rape her during their marriage. Her ex-husband was arrested and interviewed following which police consulted with the Procurator Fiscal before closing the investigation on the basis that there was insufficient evidence.
We have reviewed the handling of four complaints, namely that:
after reporting historical sexual offences and a statement being obtained from the applicant’s son, officers disregarded the contents of this statement, which the applicant considered offered corroboration to her own account;
towards the end of the police enquiry an officer attended a meeting with the applicant unprepared and was unable to sufficiently answer her questions, appearing disinterested and acting as if she had decided already that no crime had been committed;
as part of the police enquiry, a letter was handed in that the applicant had received from her ex-husband, and this wasn’t taken into consideration; and
as part of the police enquiry, the applicant passed police copies of text messages received from her son, and these were disregarded and not taken into consideration as corroboration of her account.
Police Scotland's Decision
Police Scotland did not uphold any of the applicant’s complaints.
Our Findings
We have found that Police Scotland handled complaints 1, 3 and 4 to a reasonable standard, but not so complaint 2.
We have identified a learning point relative to Police Scotland’s administration of the complaints.
Our learning point should be implemented by Police Scotland within two months of the date of this report.
Police Bodies: Police Scotland