he police watchdog has stated it should take into account any new complaints referred to it over the probe into Gaia Pope-Sutherland’s alleged rapist after her household claimed officers dismissed proof in opposition to him.
Ms Pope-Sutherland, 19, ran away from residence whereas experiencing a psychological well being disaster in 2017 after reporting she had been drugged and sexually attacked by a person when she was 16.
She died after struggling hypothermia and was present in undergrowth between Dancing Ledge and Anvil Level alongside the Dorset shoreline 11 days after she went lacking.
On the time of her disappearance, she was anxious concerning the accused rapist’s imminent launch from jail the place he was serving time for different sexual offences.
The Impartial Workplace for Police Conduct (IOPC) beforehand assessed Dorset Police’s resolution to take no additional motion over the 19-year-old’s reported assault and located it was “acceptable.”
However 5 years on, her household have demanded a overview of the broader investigation into the accused man, who they are saying the drive was conscious of quite a few allegations in opposition to way back to 2014.
Marienna Pope-Weidemann, Ms Pope-Sutherland’s cousin, has additionally known as for a “Gaia Precept” whereby officers should verify if suspected intercourse offenders face a number of comparable accusations or face disciplinary proceedings.
In response to the renewed attraction, the watchdog stated it had not but obtained any direct method from Ms Pope-Sutherland’s household however would look into any new complaints.
An IOPC spokesperson stated: “Now we have had no direct method from Gaia Pope’s household regarding any wider overview. We absolutely investigated the household’s recorded complaints concerning the rape investigation, made in 2018.
“Any new grievance referred to us can be thought of and assessed as to what additional motion could also be required by the IOPC.”
Police seem to have handled allegations in opposition to the accused rapist as situations of “a he-said, she-said, moderately than what it was – a he-said, they-said”, Ms Pope-Weidemann advised a press convention on Wednesday.
“I feel the choice to take no additional motion on Gaia’s rape case was devastating for her and why she was so involved about it was as a result of we knew there have been different victims,” Ms Pope-Weidemann stated.
Ms Pope-Weidemann added: “We requested for an unbiased overview into the broader investigation into (him) and his associates with the intention to safeguard our neighborhood and deal with any failures… We’re calling for an actual unbiased investigation as a result of it’s completely within the public curiosity for us all to know how this could possibly be allowed to occur.
“He was already speculated to be below investigation again in 2014 when he was allegedly grooming Gaia and who is aware of what number of others… We consider that many of those allegations, together with Gaia’s, had been handled in isolation.
“(The alleged rapist) was convicted as soon as once more for additional little one intercourse offences based mostly on proof police had been in possession of for years however hadn’t used – we don’t know why.”
Dorset Police has beforehand apologised for errors made in its preliminary response to Ms Pope-Sutherland’s disappearance, however stated that since her demise it has taken steps to enhance.
It added in a press release on Thursday: “We’re completely dedicated to supporting victims of sexual offences and we’re persevering with to work with colleagues within the Crown Prosecution Service to enhance the companies provided to those that report rape and different severe sexual offences.”
