what about this?

[witsend]

letters

Dear constant, sorry to hear you can't find a charity to donate to! seems like its **** which ever way you turn. I'm going to make a donation to the Samaritans and Mind as they have helped me and our son through what proved to be the darkest time in our lives. Will put petition on back boiler for now, have managed to get numerous members of our family to write to their MP'S, I may also write one to the PM

[worriedfather]

witsend, i think that is a great idea. i intend to write to the pm as well my mp is firmly on our side, he is an exbarrister and has very low opinion of the cps and plod. the pm seems quite switched on about false accusations unlike harridan harmon ! if we go for a petition i could get a few names. my son is in the army and will take it round his barracks.

[LS]

Sorry if I sound down chaps, I just wish a petition would do what we want it to and it's just a tad worrying that they can "bar" a petition for any number of reasons. Still, won't know till we try....
On the up/downside, I wrote to the PM last week on www.number10.gov.uk, asking how hard should it be to report a Benefit Cheat who is "too ill to work" yet has been running an internet radio station for the last 3 years, and is now touting for work as a mobile car mechanic.
As yet, no response. I guess he's too busy arousing the taliban.

[witsend]

Ls, have been left feeling very confused The petition was hubbies idea, not mine. I, like you, think writing to MP's and PM will probably be more fruitful. Our M:confused MP says she is getting in touch with the Home Office regarding our sons police records, so at least something is being done. Thought all of this pain and anguish would be over and done with by now but we all seem to have some really BAD days, don't think we will ever recover properly

[LS]

Hi Witsend
My own situation is similar and dissimilar to others here. I ended up being convicted with little chance of appealing it, so I have very bad days coping with depression and trying to avoid dealing with the futility at times.

If you have an MP on your side then that is half the battle. Last year, when I was blackmailed by Probation I complained to my MP, via his secretary so I didn't get to initially speak to him. He then spoke to the cause of my complaint direct, and then phoned me. And he had decided that I wasn't being blackmailed and therefore wasn't prepared to help. I can't help thinking prejudice got in the way. So my opinion of MPs isn't very high, and because of my conviction I get a 3rd class service or none at all.

A petition is good, better than doing nothing but I think you need many, many numbers for anyone to take notice.

[witsend]

Dear LS
like you we are dealing with the secretary! yep in hind sight not too sure what good a petition would do. Sorry to hear of all the stuff you have had to deal with, sometimes life just stinks The depression is a real pain, had it before our sons accusation. Am trying to pull myself out of it, but it's hard work at times. Sometimes I would like to curl up and die but that's not an option, just have to find the strength to battle on.

[LS]

Dear Witsend
One option which may be worth trying, is MPs usually have a surgery at their constituency office. I don't know if you have to have an appointment or if you can just walk in and pigeonhole thus bypassing the secretary if he/she is obstructive.
Having an amenable MP in the first place is a good start. You have the enviable position of your son's offence type not being one which galvanises all MPs into salivating mode, so good luck with that course of action.

In an ideal world, all of the support sites like this one, PAFAA, SOFA etc would raise their profile as one and tackle this out in the mainstream arena. We are a silent and forgotten percentage of the population unfortunately.

[worriedfather]

I have now written to the PM asking for 3 things, a change to the 2003 sexual offences act so that plod has to get a bit more evidence before locking everyone up and that it is a requirement that they do an Investigation not a hunt for evidence to support the accuser and nothing to support the defence.
Second that if the charges are dropped or nfaed or found not guilty, the arrest and dna are removed from the record
third that the accused remains nameless until convicted.
My son lost his job as once arrested he was classed as failing a crb check despite not having been convicted.
its a start

[LS]

Very good points there, worriedfather. Let's hope you get a response, and a favourable one.

[witsend]

worried father. writing to the PM is on my "to do list" for next week. If enough people write to MP/PM maybe someone will sit up and listen. Let us know if you hear anything.

[worriedfather]

Go for it Witsend, on the website it says you are more likely to recieve a reply if you send by snail mail as email does not always get read. Twist the knife about and lay it on about how one person destroyed your family life and plod did nothing.
I read today on the BBC website that the IPCC has strongly criticised Northants police over the case of Warren Blackwell jailed for 5yrs and served 3 yrs and 4 months before the conviction was overturned. Plod knew that his accuser had mental health issues and had made false accusations before they did not pass the info on. It took plod 4 years after he was released before they apologised and would not retract the commendation that the detective got for the original "investigation" plod are incredible

[LS]

This example of police not passing on information, or routinely ignoring it, is not an isolated one.

In my own case, the other party sent me a series of messages on MSN Messenger, which I did not reply to. I just ignored them. However, he then cut and pasted his messages into a Word document, and inserted new ones in between of a threatening nature with my username on them, which he knew because he and I used to converse before the event, and then called the police and said I was threatening him. He produced a print out out this "document" as an example of the Log file from MSN Messenger.

When I was arrested, I told the officer that this was a fabrication. Hell, his document didn't look anything like a Messenger Log, and told her where on a computer to find it and suggested she go and do so, and compare a genuine item to his. She didn't bother. She merely took his fabrication as genuine and had me remanded into custody for 4 months. It was only during the court hearings for this that his computer mysteriously crashed and he "threw the hard drive away." Convenient, as you cannot destroy the data on a hard drive, so the only option is to make it disappear, which is what he did. The matter was conveniently dropped at this point.

I complained to the IPCC, stating that if an officer and the cps are to remand someone on the basis of evidence, then they should be aware not only of what constitutes real and faked evidence, but that when someone tells them where to find a genuine item and to compare it then they should do so. More, the police should be knowledgeable about the "crime" they are accusing someone of. Incredulously the IPCC didn't rule the officer was at fault.