BRIEF ACCOUNT OF BEING FALSELY ACCUSED OF RAPE

Professor Michael Patterson

In 1991 I was a well respected, well liked lecturer in Theatre at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. On 21st June I was arrested in front of my 80 year old mother, interrogated over several hours, charged with rape and buggery, photographed and fingerprinted, and locked in a cell at the police station. Fortunately, I was released on bail the following day but was suspended from my post and banned from setting foot on the campus. The sole reason for all this was because one of my students, with whom I had never had any physical contact, had claimed that I had viciously assaulted, raped and buggered her four and a half months previously in my office at the university, on a busy corridor at midday. There was (and could not be) any forensic evidence (although she did later produce a bra, which police discovered had been cut not torn…). The only evidence was her statement. Since she had already sought attention by claiming to have been beaten up by other students, and stating that she suffered from a hole in the heart, leukaemia and breast cancer, one might have imagined that her veracity in this case would have been doubted. Further, her statement was full of inconsistencies and improbabilities: she was supposedly gagged by me but then forced to commit fellatio, I allegedly orgasmed in her vagina, then turned her over and immediately penetrated her anus (hardly likely for a man in his fifties), I supposedly placed my whole hand in her vagina, and, despite allegedly having her clothes torn off her, being raped, buggered, punched and kicked, she made her way unseen by anyone at a busy time of day to her room in the University and then went out shopping with friends.

While I was suspended from the University, she was not only allowed to stay on but was assured that she would not suffer any ill consequences for alleging this rape. Her anonymity was protected, mine was not. The police conducted enquiries over several months, which seemed to focus solely on an attempt to prove me guilty (the best that they could come up with was that I wore leather clothing – I rode a motorbike to work – and that once I was seen to sweat when talking to students). My only defence was that it did not happen: it is impossible to prove a negative. I had to appear in court once a month ‘to answer bail’, she never once had to enter a court. Since part of my bail conditions were that I was to have no contact with what was laughingly called ‘the injured party’, she could at any time have invented a new lie that I had threatened her, and so could have caused me to be re-arrested and retained on remand. I was forced to move away to England, far away from my family, and obliging me to place my mother in an old people’s home.

After seven months of this continuing nightmare, she went to the police with further allegations: that I had not just raped her once but several times, including ‘under the steps of the University’. She was then interviewed in person by the DPP, and they directed that charges against me should be dropped. In March 1992 I appeared before the magistrates for the last time and was simply told that I was free to go.

I was reinstated at the University, but some students, understandably believing the stories that she was able to invent in my absence, considered the outcome to be a ‘white-wash’, boycotted my classes, circulated a leaflet denouncing me, threatened to slash the tires of my motorbike, etc. I offered to meet openly with students to discuss my case in any forum they chose. A good woman friend who was prepared to organise such a meeting was warned by a women’s group that she should no longer associate with me. The University took away all my managerial duties and refused my promotion to Professor, which had been virtually promised me.

In November 1993 I was appointed to a Professorship at De Montfort University in Leicester, even though the interview panel were well aware of the allegations that had been made against me. I cannot emphasise enough how lucky I was to encounter an enlightened institution which was prepared to give me the benefit of the doubt; for, despite my eminence in my field, all previous applications for posts – even for one for which I had been previously head-hunted – were turned down without explanation. I was, however, now separated from my family by many miles and the Irish Sea, and my partner (who can blame her?) was now seeing another man.

After some months in my new post I was served with a civil writ, once again alleging rape. My accuser, who had transferred to Manchester University after my return to the University of Ulster, had begun to stage epileptic fits. When a scan proved that she was not epileptic, she was referred to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ as a result of the ‘rape’ and who urged her to pursue the matter in the civil courts.

She was awarded legal aid to conduct her action, while it was to cost me well over £10,000. I was repeatedly offered the opportunity to pay off my accuser, and indeed it would have been cheaper to have done so, but I could not have lived with myself if I had taken this easy way out. Far from supporting me in any way, the University insisted that I should be personally liable for any damages to them resulting from the action. To this day she is protected by anonymity; I, who have been declared innocent by both the criminal and civil courts, had articles written about me in the press (admittedly all favourable – but nevertheless a strain on my family).

When, after more years of this living nightmare, the case finally came to court in May 1998, she did not even appear. The case was dropped and costs awarded against her. This was meaningless, since someone who is legally aided does not have to pay any costs.

Despite what I went through, I regard myself as very lucky. I am now very happily married, have a good job, and, although relations with my ex-partner remain strained, I have a good relationship with my children.

I am neither bitter nor angry, but for the sake of the many men who have been or will be falsely accused of rape, I wish to ask the following:

why are innocent men named, while their lying accusers remain anonymous?

if it is important to name men so that women who have been raped by them will come forward, is it not also important to name women who have made false accusations in the past, so that men can come forward?

why, in a modern democracy, is a totally uncorroborated statement by one person with no forensic evidence whatsoever regarded as sufficient grounds for arrest and imprisonment?

why is a man accused of rape regarded as guilty until proved innocent?

if the authorities award legal aid to a false rape accuser, why are they not liable for costs when it becomes clear that their judgment was at fault?

why should a woman, who has put a man at risk of years of imprisonment through her lies, not face a similar prospect by being charged with wasting police time and, in an ideal world, of committing the offence of False Rape Allegation? (In the case, like mine, of a woman who was probably mentally disturbed rather than malicious, enforced counselling rather than imprisonment might be more appropriate)

Professor Michael Patterson

End Bit

After I had read Professor Patterson's account above, I wrote the following to him.

Dear Michael

I have just read about your terrible misfortune and, being the webmaster at angryharry.com (please go there if you don't know it!) I'm obviously keenly interested in this sort of injustice.

But I am desperate to ask you the following question.

On the whole - and with hindsight - was your life better before this appalling treatment of you, or is it actually better now?

The reason I ask is this.

It seems to me that when one is an 'outsider' or 'outcast' in some kind of way, those who don't care about you that much, drift away. But those with a special 'affinity' for your plight come close(r). The net result can often therefore be MORE friends - and BETTER ones - whilst casting away the 'riff-raff'!

Did you find this happening at all?

Also, because of my website, I do get quite a lot of emails from men who have been very poorly treated indeed - loss of home, children, prison, false accusations etc, and I need to give them encouragement and strategies for coping.

I think that you are a remarkable man indeed to have gone so public over your affair - and I admire and thank you for it.

Harry

And the professor replied! As follows ...

Dear Harry

Thanks for your encouraging response to my experience.

Yes, I can honestly say that I am in many respects better for what I had to go through. There are two main reasons:

1) While my ex-partner remained totally convinced of my innocence, the strain of the whole affair told on our relationship, and I cannot blame her for turning away from me towards an easy-going, charming man who gave her solace while I was fighting my battles. However, I received the constant, patient and loving support of a wonderful female friend. We married last summer, and I can honestly say that I am now happier than I have ever been.

2) After dealing with a living nightmare like that, one gets things into perspective. I am amused now by the way some people freak out over utterly trivial matters. I'm in my sixties now and am bound to face various illnesses. I honestly believe that this experience has strengthened me sufficiently, I hope, to face anything life throws at me.

I know too that my pal, Pat D., who was frankly a young, heavy-drinking tearaway, is now (after being put in prison for a crime he did not commit) thoughtful, serious, and committed to making the best out of his life.

I wouldn't recommend going through the experience, but, for those who have to, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

As for strategies for coping, I adopted the following rules:

1) Never indulge in anger and bitterness. Sure, you will feel angry and bitter, but why give your lying accuser even more power over you? Resolve to rise above it, tell her and her lies to get stuffed, and that you will get on with your own life as best you can, not be dominated by her evil (especially if, as most of us will have done, you consider suicide - don't give her the satisfaction!).

2) Remind yourself that you are innocent. No lying accusation, no court of law can take that away from you. That's more than the poor lying bitch will ever be able to say.

3) If you pray, you are not praying for any special favours, only that the truth will be revealed. That's surely not much to ask for!

4) Stick totally to the truth. That way you only ever have one story to tell. Those who lie are far worse off: they have to remember the last version they invented.

5) When you're feeling particularly depressed and frightened, think of the worst possible thing that could happen to you. A few years in jail? Not a pleasant prospect, but imagine it in detail, consider how you might spend that time away from your family and friends. You could cope with it, couldn't you? And once you have been there in your mind, it will lose its terror.

I hope that this is of some use. If any of your correspondents wish to contact me personally, I am happy to write to them (I remember how isolated and lonely I sometimes felt when I was going through those seven years...)

Best wishes

Michael