Appeal denied for Rape Retraction Victim

The BBC is reporting today that the first appeal of the Welsh woman who was jailed for retracting her false statement has been denied.

The woman's solicitor met Judge John Rogers, who said that he had reviewed the case and considered his decision to be the right one.

This is despite the Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies calling for the woman to be released, saying he was "unhappy" about her sentence, and statements from various rape charities strongly criticising the decision.

The woman is now expected to take the case to the Court of Appeals in London.

While having respect for the legal side of the argument - that the woman did indeed cause the police and the CPS a lot of work, and the tax payer a lot of money by changing her story - she did this in the face of extreme emotional blackmail.

It leads me to wonder what the outcome would have been if she had felt secure and supported by the system.

This is a woman who was abused and pressured by her husband to retract her accusation, who was told by CPS that the case would not go ahead, who was so frightened that she told the police that she had lied to somehow halt the nightmarish rollercoaster that she found herself on.

Under pressure from both her husband and the CPS, she finally admitted that she had been raped and the retraction was made under duress, which lead to the prosecution.

Was it legal to prosecute her for perverting the course of justice? Most definitely.

Was it morally right? Was it in the best interest of the woman, who had been abused and her children, who had witnessed this abuse? Absolutely not.

We can only hope that the Court of Appeals recognises this and releases the woman for jail as soon as possible.