The family of a young mum who took her own life after allegedly being sexually assaulted by two men have said she is “just a statistic” to police following a decision not to prosecute one of the pair.
Mother-of-two Jenna Johnson, 27, died at home in Thurso, Caithness, in January 2019.
She had told close friends she had been drugged and raped by two men just over a week earlier.
Jenna said they had filmed the assault and threatened to publish the footage online, warning that she would lose her children as a result.
Her mum and sister had hoped one of the suspects, who was charged in December 2020, would be prosecuted but Police Scotland said this week it would not be proceeding with the probe.
One of the men named by Jenna, Stewart Dixon, died earlier this year. He was also linked to the death of local man Stefan Sutherland.
Police initially insisted there were no suspicious circumstances around Jenna’s death but, following pressure from her family and a series of revelations in the Record, they got warrants to search the homes of the men.
It’s understood officers seized devices including mobiles and, following forensic examination, the suspects were charged in 2020 with sexually assaulting Jenna a year earlier.
But Jenna’s mum Carol Forrest, who looks after her daughter’s children, told how she and daughter Kelsey – Jenna’s sister – had been left distraught.
Carol said: “We were assured by the local procurator fiscal that they were doing all they could, so we held out some hope.
“Jenna had everything to live for and she was the last person you’d think would die in such a way.
“We know the police would not have charged them if they had not obtained some evidence that forced them to rethink their earlier position, so we can’t really understand why the guy who is still alive isn’t going to court.
“Jenna is just a statistic to them, but she’s my daughter, Kelsey’s sister and mother to two kids who miss her desperately every day.”
One of Jenna’s best friends, Shane Ross, added: “The justice system has let her down.”
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances, including the available admissible evidence, the procurator fiscal decided that there should be no proceedings at this time.”
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