The family of Gaia Pope-Sutherland have accused police of having “lied” and dismissed evidence which may have helped bring a prosecution against her alleged rapist.
Detectives were said to have been aware of numerous allegations against the man accused of grooming her as far back as 2014.
But the cases were treated in isolation and likely presented to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as instances of “he-said, she-said”, according to her Gaia’s cousin.
The family are now calling for a “Gaia Principle” whereby officers must check if suspected sex offenders face multiple similar allegations or face disciplinary proceedings.
Gaia was 19 when she ran away from home in Swanage, Dorset, on 7 November 2017 after reporting that she had been drugged and sexually attacked by a man when she was 16.
Her body was found – 11 days after she disappeared – in undergrowth between Dancing Ledge and Anvil Point on the Dorset coast, an area her family had urged police to search as it was one of her late grandfather’s favourite places.
An inquest into her death found she had died of hypothermia within 18 hours of going missing.
Before her disappearance, she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She was also fearful about the man’s imminent release from prison where he served time for child sex offences that were unconnected to her allegations.
Gaia had suffered a mental health crisis and was admitted to hospital. There, she reported that she had been raped but police did not pursue a prosecution, her cousin Marienna Pope-Weidemann said.
Speaking at Doughty Street Chambers in London on Wednesday, she added: “I think the decision to take no further action on Gaia’s rape case was devastating for her and why she was so concerned about it was because we knew there were other victims.
“In terms of the police over the next two years what we saw was a consistent and repeated failure to recognise her vulnerability.”
Dorset Police apologised for mistakes made in its response to her disappearance, but a senior coroner has directed the inquest’s jury not to consider the force’s failings as contributory factors in Gaia’s death.
A police search co-ordinator retrospectively altered search records relating to her disappearance, the inquest also heard.
Ms Pope-Weidemann said: “By any common sense definition, what they did was tamper with evidence, they lied to the jury, they lied to the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct).”
She claimed the “litany” of police failings had included having “hung up” on Gaia when she called them on the day she went missing while “showing clear signs of being in an acute mental health crisis”.
“Not only did they not take any action, they discriminated against and hung up on her,” Ms Pope-Weidemann added.
Gaia’s family are demanding changes to policing and health and social care services as part of their Justice For Gaia campaign.
These include improved funding for mental health services and the creation of a specialist unit dedicated to investigating rape and sexual offences within all police forces.
The family are also calling for an independent investigation of the police probe into the alleged rapist “and his associates” as they believe Gaia’s allegations – among others – were wrongly dealt with “in isolation”.
Ms Pope-Weidemann continued: “To this day the [IOPC] has failed to do this... We are calling for a real independent investigation because it is absolutely in the public interest for us all to understand how this could be allowed to happen.”
Gaia was “absolutely crushed” and was made to feel “very isolated” by doctors making notes about “personality diagnoses” and her “so-called ‘delusions’ of sexual assault”, her cousin also said.
In February 2017, Gaia spent time in a mixed-sex mental health ward, which her family voiced concerns about in light of her disclosure that she had been raped.
“I repeatedly asked for a conversation with doctors about that, for her to be moved to another ward – they didn’t even write down that we had those concerns,” Ms Pope-Weidemann said.
“After she died, we were devastated to learn that she had been repeatedly sexually harassed by another male patient.
“She disclosed that to staff, and not only did they fail to take appropriate safeguarding action, they didn’t even log the incident. Two days later they discharged her back to the community with no follow-up care and no rape crisis support.”
The family is encouraging supporters to sign a petition demanding better investment and training in the handling of sexual abuse allegations by health services and the police.
The Independent has contacted Dorset Police and the IOPC for comment.
