Can you be charged but not prosecuted? Do the police have to charge before presenting to cps?
BBC Radio #4
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Bbc Threads
New to Tattle Life? Click "Order Thread by Most Liked Posts" button below to get an idea of what the site is about:
No, the police will seek permission to charge from the CPS for this kind of offence - the CPS will have to be convinced there's a realistic prospect of conviction - if the police haven't got sufficient evidence, or have botched the investigation, the CPS won't take it to trial.
I've seen too many examples of poor investigations as part of my job - the amount of sexual offences that are reported vs. the ones that actually make it to trial is a disgrace. Bear in mind, the actual conviction rate when it reaches trial is also disgracefully low.
Not to excuse him because obvs I have no more information on exactly what occurred than anyone else, my partner as a 13-16 year old used to tell older guys he was above the age of consent if he fancied them. He could grow a full beard so while (imo) they should have done their due diligence and paid attention to his maturity, they were not deliberately committing an offence. He was contacted a couple of years ago by a wife who had found historic messages between her husband and him when he was under age - my partner told her he honestly couldn't remember how old he claimed to be but she she reported it to the police as child molestation (there was apparently a lot of cheating, of which this was part so she was being vengeful). My partner had to make several statements to the police about it in the end and was very annoyed by the inconvenience.
Obviously if the victim has reported it ( having realised they were a victim) the above is irrelevant, and given the age gap with him and his husband and the fact he's gone without a fight, I'm definitely more than 50/50 there was something untoward involved.
Sadly age gap relationships where there is a power imbalance are quite common even between men.
Obviously if the victim has reported it ( having realised they were a victim) the above is irrelevant, and given the age gap with him and his husband and the fact he's gone without a fight, I'm definitely more than 50/50 there was something untoward involved.
Sadly age gap relationships where there is a power imbalance are quite common even between men.
I feel so conflicted about it all…I like Scott. He’s not my fav but I like him well enough. My main thoughts are that it feels harsh, mainly due to time frame and threshold for prosecution not being met. But then I feel that time frame shouldn’t matter and I understand how difficult these cases can be to prosecute. I really don’t know. I think I’m just gutted that this is how it has ended for him, and for us listeners too as there will be no closure, no farewell etc.
Apparently Scott was in an underage relationship whilst he was at Heart (I’ve just been reading on a fan forum no idea if true). I do hope this doesn’t turn into a Caroline Flack situation. I feel for both the accuser and Scott, it’s difficult. I listen to R2 all day everyday while I work, it’s like I’ve lost a friend? Bit dramatic I know but these presenters become part of my day while I’m alone WFH.
Im totally with you…we have it on from 6.40 in the morning, all day, everyday. I feel a bit bereft. I didn’t enjoy all of his features on breakfast show but I didn’t mind them. I, too, would be worried for him as radio is his life. I hope he is safe.
Same here, and I've listened to BBC radio since before I can remember so feel like I've "known" Scott for nearly 30 years. It's messed with my head a bit tbh
thank you, you worded this much better than i did in my original post.
So many people get away with it due to poor investigation and the fact people feel they can’t report it straight away so it comes out years later.
I can’t believe there’s people on here near enough defending him cos they like him, this will not be the only person he’s done this too id bet my life on it.
i can't stop thinking about him and the situation. Like others have said, I've grown up with him and his voice is so familiar to me, it's always been comforting. His radio 1 show with Chris was brilliant, I listened to all their podcasts and probably more than once!!
Oh I don't know - I've just seen people feeling quite sad about it all. As we've said the bond between listener and radio host is quite unique and often feels intimate. It can be hard to turn off feelings of fondness, and disbelief, straight away.
i haven’t seen anyone on here even close to defending him?! that’s not a fair thing to imply. people have only said that they feel a sense of sadness because they’d previously enjoyed listening to him (radio is so personal as a format too).
What strikes me is that information on this is still quite limited but the news is fresh. If he has done this to more than one person and more recently then I would expect to hear it in coming days or for there to have been some rumbling about it here and there
When the whole Huw thing was going down some random rumblings appeared fairly quickly before it was even revealed to have been him if I recall correctly. Yet this seems to have mostly been quiet - though granted I haven’t really read much about it
If it’s relating to historic allegations that weren’t charged and there’s no new claims or evidence then he’s in the exact same position as Gambacini so the question is was he sacked due to failure to disclose or has something new come up.
For anybody interested
Scott Mills
As suggested in the Celeb Gossip thread as it has become the Scott Mills thread.
tattle.life
Bob Harris is in hospital, he's had prostate cancer for a while now.
Paul was investigated during Operation Yewtree, no charges were brought & he sued the Met Police & Crown Prosecution Service.What did Gambo do?I love him
Ahh his instagram post, shared in the article, is lovely. Really positive and upbeat. I hope he recovers well and is back doing what he loves as soon as he is able.Bob Harris is in hospital, he's had prostate cancer for a while now.
I wonder why it’s taking so long to announce Scott’s replacement?
It really hasn't been that long at all when you consider that they need to have discussions with possible new hosts inc contract negotiations on top of having to change the whole schedule to accomodate whatever change they do end up making, leading to contract negotiations with multiple parties happening at once.
When someone leaves under usual circumstances they have to give notice, meaning the announcement of the current host leaving and new host joining that slot can be announced pretty much straight after one another, with this there's got to be hours and hours of conversations happening BTS.
There's also not an obvious person to step into the role as was discussed here when it was first announced