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New life for man cleared of rape

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8338554.stm

Peter Bacon will set off for the airport next month for a flight to
Malaysia. But it won't be Peter Bacon who will step off the plane at
the other end.

Mr Bacon, a 26-year-old graduate from Canterbury in Kent, says the
stigma of being wrongly accused of rape has led him to create a new
identity and make a fresh start thousands of miles from Britain.

In March, a jury at Winchester Crown Court heard that a woman was so
drunk that she was incapable of giving consent to sex and that Mr
Bacon took advantage.

He insisted that the woman had consented. The jury returned a
unanimous not guilty verdict in 45 minutes.

Since then, Mr Bacon has been busy reinventing himself.

'Nightmarish'

Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: "I've
changed my name by deed poll now - the whole name.

"I've changed my passport, my taxes, my National Insurance, my NHS
records. Everything, basically."

He has set up new Facebook and Hotmail accounts - and his degree
certificate bears his new name.


Rape survivors and alleged rapists are both entitled to justice. But
justice means convicting the men who commit rape
Ruth Hall, Women Against Rape

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I've long believed that it when it comes to releasing the name of
person charged with rape that it shold be a level playing field.
Either keep the alleged vicitms name and the alleged perpetrators name
withheld or release both of them.
Look at some of the high profile names that have been charged with
rape and were yet innocent; Neil and Christine Hamilton, Craig Charles
and John Leslie. The media circus that surounded them must have been
absolutely intolerable.

McKevvy
"I enquired about name changing on certificates before I graduated.
Because, apparently, your degree certificate is a historical document,
they will not change your name; it's impossible. So, if I didn't do it
before graduation, then I couldn't do it.

"My name has come up a few times since the original newspaper interest
died down. My name is going to keep on coming up and I'd rather move
away and start again, I suppose.

"You've still got your name connected to it. Just to have it connected
to something like that is bad, terrible, nightmarish. It doesn't
matter what the outcome was."

Mr Bacon said he felt like an innocent man "but punished all the
same... it just seems like a load of doors have closed to me because
of this, even though I've done nothing wrong".

'Traumatic'

In August, a former Emmerdale actor, Lewis Linford, was cleared of
sexually assaulting a woman at a nightclub in Hull, East Yorkshire.

Lawyer Nick Freeman, who represented him, believes the law that allows
rape defendants to be named while their alleged victims remain
anonymous should be reviewed.

Mr Freeman said: "Those who are investigated and charged in such cases
should be given the same protection as the complainant until such time
as they are convicted.

"The judge should always retain the discretion to lift the veil of
anonymity in deserving cases prior to conviction.

"If you have a serial sex offender, they shouldn't be able to hide
behind anonymity so as not to impede police investigations.

"Counsel should be able to apply to the judge for anonymity to be
lifted and he would grant it or deny it.

"In the case of Lewis Linford, the jury was out for just seven
minutes, so he got a lot of positive publicity and sympathy.

"But it had an extremely traumatic effect on him and his family -
emotionally, physically and financially. He was a completely innocent
victim whose life was traumatised by a fabricated allegation.

"She was entitled to remain anonymous while he was subjected to the
full glare of publicity."

Break away

Women Against Rape does not share Mr Freeman's view about anonymity
for men accused of rape.

Ruth Hall, from the campaign group, said: "Most rapists are serial
rapists. Many rape cases could be won if more than one woman came
forward to give evidence."

She said if suspects were given anonymity, police would not be able to
find other alleged victims.

Ms Hall said: "Rape survivors and alleged rapists are both entitled to
justice. But justice means convicting the men who commit rape.

"We have sympathy for anyone accused of something they didn't do, but
that applies to all crimes.

"Rape survivors need anonymity or no-one would come forward to report
rape."

While the debate goes on about the rights and wrongs of anonymity,
Peter Bacon has decided it is time to leave Britain. But why Malaysia?

"It's getting a new start really, isn't it? A lot of people here know
me as Peter Bacon. I'd like to go to a place where nobody knows me and
I can start using my new name, start a new Facebook group, just
rebuild a life really.

"I'm surrounded by too many people who know me as Peter Bacon.

"But I think as soon as I get to the airport with my passport and I'm
boarding the plane then I'll think 'that's it, there is no more Peter
Bacon from now'.

"So hopefully, I'll be starting my life again completely afresh. It
should be good."

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