Inquiry into rape claim handling

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating after it emerged a rape claim made four years ago was not acted on by police.

The IPCC said it would look at Dyfed-Powys Police "failures" after a woman reported in April 2005 that she was raped as a child 10 years earlier.

The case came to light in a trial where the woman was a witness and she said she had not heard about it since.

It was found a second rape claim by another person had not been recorded.

IPCC commissioner for Wales Tom Davies said the criminal investigation aimed to show the public, and especially women and young girls, that rape claims would be "dealt with sensitively and thoroughly".

The woman's rape allegations emerged in a trial this year related to historic sexual abuse committed between 1996 and 2006.

The public expect the police to investigate those crimes reported to them, and for crimes of serious sexual assault to be given a real priority Tom Davies, IPCC

The IPCC said the court directed the prosecution to find out the outcome of the investigation from the police but the file relating to the allegation could not be located.

However officers' statements meant the victim's "account and credibility was robustly challenged" in court, the IPCC said.

Mr Davies said: "Because of police failures this young woman was put through an unnecessary ordeal at a trial for which she appeared as a witness.

"But worse than that is the fact that having reported an allegation of rape the police did not properly investigate the allegations of two serious crimes.

'Criminal investigation'

"The intervening years will not have helped the evidence-gathering process.

"Rape is under-reported as a crime. The public expect the police to investigate those crimes reported to them, and for crimes of serious sexual assault to be given a real priority.

"The IPCC investigation is a criminal investigation and will seek to ensure that we find out what went wrong in this case.

"I have set terms of reference for this investigation that also include making any recommendations necessary to ensure that lessons are learnt so that the public can have confidence that allegations are properly dealt with."