The Times - UK (2020-10-20)

the times | Tuesday October 20 2020 1GM 23

News

Sending naked pictures of yourself

and using “hook-up” mobile apps

should not be taken as consent for

sex, prosecutors have been told.

Misconceptions about “sexting”

and the spread of casual dating web-

sites prompted the Crown Prosec-

ution Service (CPS) to issue updated

legal guidance yesterday “to tackle

rape myths and stereotypes against

the changing picture of modern life”.

Senior prosecutors said that mod-

ern attitudes to sex had to be consid-

ered in the assessment of whether

crimes had been committed and

there should be a better understand-

ing of the behaviour of alleged vic-

tims. The guidance aims to debunk 39

myths about rape and sexual assault.

It targets “the growing exchange of

naked selfies”, misconceptions about

the use of “hook-up dating sites” and

understanding of why sexual assault

victims may remain in contact with

their attackers.

Huge social changes in the past

decade had “transformed the way

people interact, date and commun-

icate with sexual partners”, Siobhan

Blake, the CPS’s lead lawyer for rape

cases, said. “Many teenagers believe

that sending explicit photos or videos

is a part of everyday life,” she said.

“Our prosecutors must understand

this and challenge any implication

that sexual images or messages

equate to consent in cases of rape of

serious sexual violence.”

The move comes amid rising con-

cern at the falling rate of rape prose-

cutions in England and Wales. At the

end of July it emerged that cases

going to court had fallen by more

than 30 per cent over the preceding

year, resulting in the lowest number

Officers in a specialist unit referred

to women as whores and a black

detective as being “stolen from Africa”,

a misconduct hearing was told.

The serious organised crime team

was described as “homophobic,

transphobic, racist” and “plain nasty”.

They likened the only black officer

to a mixed-breed dog and suggested

that he had “forged qualifications”

from Nigeria. The “abhorrent and

toxic” language used by the officers

Sergeant Gregory Willcox, trainee

Detective Constable Andrew Fergus-

on and PCs Craig Bannerman, who re-

signed, and James Oldfield appeared

at the hearing at Hampshire police

HQ in Eastleigh. They admit miscon-

duct but deny gross misconduct.

Jason Beer, QC, said: “This was a

specialist unit that enjoyed isolation

from the force due to the covert

nature of their work. That appears to

have led to a toxic and abhorrent

culture developing in the unit.”

The hearing continues.

Will Humphries

Police ‘compared black colleague to dog’

was said to be constant. The men also

joked that “Albanian migrants”

should be shot on entry to Britain or

killed with a nerve agent.

Six officers are accused of gross

misconduct for making discrimi-

natory, inappropriate or offensive

comments during covert recording

between March 9, 2018 and April 2,

2018 at Northern Hampshire Police

Investigation Centre in Basingstoke.

Detective Inspector Timothy

Ireson, who has retired, Detective

Sergeant Oliver Lage, Detective

Explicit selfies and hook-up

apps ‘are not consent for sex’

of convictions for at least five years.

The figures led to Max Hill, QC, the

director of public prosecutions, being

accused of having overseen the effec-

tive “decriminalisation of rape”.

Included in the new guidance are

updates on how prosecutors should

deal with the significantly rising

amount of digital evidence in rape

cases as well as what constitute

“reasonable lines of inquiry”.

Harriett Wistrich, a lawyer who

founded the Centre for Women’s Jus-

tice, said she hoped that the updated

guidance “signals a new determin-

ation to reverse the drastic decline in

the volume of rape case prosec-

utions”. She added: “We have seen

scores of cases over the last few years

where prosecutorial decisions have

been infected by rape myths and we

know as a consequence many victims

have been denied justice whilst per-

petrators walked free. Good guidance

is not enough unless it is adhered to.”

6 Fewer than one in seven alleged

rape victims feels confident that they

can obtain justice by reporting the

matter to the police, a survey for

Dame Vera Baird, the victims’ com-

missioner, found. In all 95 per cent of

those who did not contact the police

said that they did not do so out of fear

of being disbelieved.

Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
Myths about rape

The CPS list of common myths

about rape and sex assault include:

6 When it comes to sex, men have

a point of no return.

6 If you meet men online or via

hook-up apps you want sex and

should be ready to offer sex.

6 If you send sexual images or

messages before meeting

someone then sex is inevitable.

6 If the victim did not scream,

fight or get injured it was not rape.

6 Only young and/or attractive

people get raped.

6 Strong, independent, powerful

and older people are not raped.

A

collection of

James Bond

books, which

captures author

Ian Fleming’s sado-

masochistic tendencies

and sheds light on his

influences for the spy, is

to be sold at Sotheby’s

next month (David

Sanderson writes).

An anonymous

collector is selling a

series of Fleming’s

inscribed first editions,

including a copy of Live

and Let Die presented to

Winston Churchill with

the acknowledgement,

“from whom I stole

some words”.

There is also a first

edition of Diamonds are

Forever inscribed to

Biffy Dunderdale, a real-

life spy who influenced

the creation of Bond. In

1939 Dunderdale

smuggled two replica

Enigma machines out of

Poland. In the book, set

to sell for up £20,000,

Fleming writes: “To one

of the most romantic

figures in MI5.”

An edition of From

Russia With Love,

inscribed to Fleming’s

wife Ann, is estimated at

up to £35,000. In a

reference to their liking

for sado-masochism it is

inscribed: “To Annie/

With love / and lashes /

Ian”.

Altogether 114 books

will be sold in four

online Bond auctions

from October 27. A

display at Sotheby’s

Bond Street gallery in

London will run from

November 6 to 10 and

includes books, watches

and an Aston Martin.

One of the lots is the

final revised typescript

of Diamonds Are

Forever, which sheds

light on how Fleming

worked. It is expected to

sell for up to £120,000.

There is also a first

edition of Moonraker

inscribed to Raymond

Chandler, the American

detective novelist, who

urged Fleming to keep

writing about Bond.

According to Sotheby’s,

Chandler’s coaxing

meant that Moonraker

was the third story of 14,

rather than the last.

The contrast between

the 1950s and the 2020s

is shown in the Bond

posters that are for sale.

In a Dr No poster, tipped

to sell for up to £25,000,

Sean Connery is

seen with a gun and

four scantily clad

women. The poster

for No Time to Die,

the latest movie,

shows Daniel Craig

in a jumper and

cargo trousers. It is

expected to go for

£200.

From Bond author,

with lashings of love

Foreverwhichhd

A 1962 first

edition of

The Spy Who

Loved Me, a

poster for

From Russia

With Love

and the

poster for Dr

No which is

expected to

fetch £25,000

ERIC PULFORD AND RENATO FRATINI/SOTHEBY’S