Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

Jemma Beale, a narcissist, a fantasist, a manipulative liar, has been sent to prison for ten years for falsely claiming she had been raped by nine men and sexually assaulted by six more over a period of three years. It was all a pack of lies. Police, meanwhile, spent 6,400 hours investigating her lies, which cost us taxpayers a quarter of a million pounds. One of Beale's victims, Mahad Cassim, spent two years in prison on account of this woman's disgusting claims.

Jemma Beale mugshot

Following the sentence, it was reported that Beale's is the most serious case of false sexual accusations in judicial history. Prosecutors went on to make the extraordinary statement that false allegations of sexual assault remain very rare.

How the hell would they know? The police and CPS rarely, if ever, go back over cases of alleged sexual assault when the accused has been found not guilty in a court of law. If the accuser doesn't actually admit to making up the whole story, he or she can be sure of getting off scot-free, even if their lies are exposed.

It has always to be pointed out, just because someone is found not guilty, this doesn't automatically mean that defendant is innocent, just that the prosecution has failed to prove its case. But there are occasions when it is palpably obvious the complainant is nothing more than a cruel opportunist/inadequate/liar (like the two friends whose filthy lies took me to Ipswich Crown Court in 2014). Wouldn't one assume that in cases when the trial is halted or when the jury return with an almost immediate decision of not guilty on all counts, the accuser would at least have his or her claims subsequently reviewed?

Not a bit of it. Why? Because the police and CPS do not want to look like they backed an unalloyed liar. After all, it was their decision jointly to charge (don't believe for a moment that the CPS operate independently from the police) and they have therefore both subjected the accused to a prolonged hell on earth existence and also cost the taxpayer many thousands of pounds.

Not good for career prospects for anyone to back the wrong horse.... so what do they do? They move away from the failed case as quickly as possible and allow the liars to return to the usually miserable, unproductive lives whence they came, with their identities protected forever.

My two accusers, who lied and lied about me, are not part of the statistics upon which the prosecutors base this latest, oft repeated, preposterous statement. Of course false allegations of sexual assault are ostensibly rare but this does not mean they are rare. How can anyone know?

If the police continue with their current m.o.of pursuing their so-called investigations following the guidelines decreed by the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, that 'all complainants must be believed', of course the greedy, insidious opportunists are going to chance their arm because they know they'll never be called to account for their vile behaviour, even when they are exposed for what they are. They have absolutely nothing to lose and a hell of a lot to gain. And all this passes for British justice.

I watched a television programme, 'The Wright Stuff', discussing the Beale sentence the following day and instead of the conversation being a vilification of the cruel, disgusting, rebarbative Beale, it was mainly focused on how this lengthy sentence might put off genuine victims 'coming forward'.

No it won't. Beale was proven to be a liar. As long as someone is telling the truth, he or she has nothing to worry about. There is not a cat in hell's chance of someone who has been raped being sent to prison for a false testimony. I reject utterly the mantra that prosecuting those who make false allegations will prevent other complainants coming forward. It is an excuse for the police and CPS to do nothing when they suspect they have been well and truly duped.

So, in spite of this appalling Beale case, it is highly unlikely that the m.o. of the police/judicial system will be in any way affected and people like me will continue to have their lives trashed as lying fantasists peddle their malicious allegations knowing they have little, if anything, to lose.

A Game of Chess?

There has been a succession of articles recently about the sharp decline in the number of children who read books for pleasure. Apps/video games/You Tube etc take up most of children's leisure time. Indeed, most youngsters are attracted by anything which doesn't require extended periods of concentration. Most households have at least two tablets, ready and waiting...

With instant gratification at the touch of a screen, why would any child bother to go about the laborious process of buying a cumbersome book and then sitting down quietly to read it? Added to this, it is often the case that when starting a novel, the reader has to be patient during the first few chapters, as the storyline unfolds.

Patient? No thanks. Nowadays, few under the age of 25 are prepared to wait for anything, if they have a choice.

This need for instant gratification has simultaneously had a deleterious effect on many children's ability to concentrate in class. Modern day teachers are expected to be akin to circus performers, to ensure the pupils are not distracted. As technology develops, the situation will only get worse.

What can be done? I have an idea... I think every child should be made to learn to play the game of chess. He or she will immediately find concentration is required, often for an extended period of time. And it won't only assist in a person's powers of concentration... it will also assist his or her powers of critical thinking/problem solving/planning analysis and abstract reasoning.

The benefits would be enormous. As a school boy, I was pretty hyperactive (still am) and I would probably have been diagnosed with ADHD in a modern day school. There is no doubt that being forced to play chess by my Housemaster every time I stepped out of line helped me enormously (as you might imagine, I had to play most days). Before very long I was playing unprompted. My behaviour soon improved and I often look back and appreciate how the game of chess enriched my life and helped to keep me on the straight and narrow at that crucial period in my life. We could even roll this initiative out into prisons... the benefits would be marked.

It's worth consideration, surely?