Legal Experts Say Police Breached Human Rights By Failing To Investigate Alleged Offences

The Metropolitan Police has agreed to pay damages to, a non-binary person who made a report of serious sexual offences against them which the force failed to investigate.

On behalf of Fredreko Nowak*, whose pronouns are they/them, specialist lawyers at Irwin Mitchell argued that the failure to investigate the serious sexual offences they reported amounted to a breach of their rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 3 is the prohibition on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and it requires the state to conduct an effective investigation into allegations of crime involving serious violence against a person.

Sexual assault: Fredreko’s story

In July 2019, after meeting a man on an online dating site, Fredreko reported being drugged and sexually assaulted in their own home over a period of 13 hours. Whilst the perpetrator was still in Fredreko’s home, they managed to escape and called police to report that the man had ‘got physical’ and locked them out of their home.

Police officers attended and Fredreko remembers telling the officers that there had been consent issues and the man had pushed boundaries. A non-crime domestic report was filed by the officers, and no photographs or evidence were taken from Fredreko’s home.

One week later, Fredreko called the police to say they wished to provide a more detailed account of the incident, and said the man was “persistent in asking for things [Fredreko] was not willing to do”.

Fredreko provides a witness statement to police

In August 2019, the crime report was allocated to a Detective Constable, and Fredreko attended a police station to provide a detailed witness statement. Fredreko asked to speak to a specialist Sexual Offences Investigative Techniques (SOIT) officer, but this request was declined.

Fredreko described the incident in detail, and their signed witness statement clearly stated that they said they had been injected with drugs without their consent and had been the victim of serious sexual offences including attempted rape. The statement also gave details of items that the perpetrator had attempted to steal, many of which were religious items related to Fredreko’s Jewish identity, including a Star of David necklace and a prayer garment.

Later in August 2019, the perpetrator was arrested and interviewed by the Detective Constable. However, the perpetrator was not asked any questions about alleged sexual offences, and was investigated only on suspicion of criminal damage and theft, despite Fredreko’s witness statement clearly describing serious sexual offences.

Possibility of thefts being hate crimes related to Fredreko’s Jewish faith ruled out by police

In October 2019, the Detective Constable closed the crime report due to ‘lack of evidence’, despite not having taken any steps to investigate Fredreko’s allegations of sexual offences committed against them. The Detective Constable and his supervisor also ruled out the possibility of the thefts being hate crimes related to Fredreko’s Jewish faith, without seeking specialist support or input before making this decision.

Fredreko was traumatised by the attack on them, and they believe the perpetrator used Fredreko’s gender dysphoria related vulnerability to groom and manipulate them into non-consensual acts.

Fredreko is receiving ongoing therapy as a result. Fredreko later contacted the charity Survivors UK for support as someone who had experienced sexual assault. In February 2021, Fredreko was supported by Survivors UK to submit a complaint to the Metropolitan Police about the investigation.

Fredreko’s complaint to Metropolitan Police upheld

In October 2021, Fredreko’s complaint to the Metropolitan Police was upheld, with a conclusion that there was a case to answer for misconduct by the Detective Constable who dealt with the crime report. The investigation concluded: “It is difficult to imagine that a police officer could have got to this level of service in the police, and be acting as a trainee detective without knowing that serious sexual offences are recorded by SOIT officers unless instructed by the sexual offences team otherwise.”

The complaint investigation noted that “no mention of the sexual offences alleged is ever logged on the crime report”, despite Fredreko’s witness statement, and found this “appears to be a clear attempt to ignore these allegations”. It was further concluded that “there must have been some wilful neglect by [the Detective Constable] to ignore these allegations”.

In November 2022, a misconduct meeting was held for the Detective Constable. The meeting was chaired by a Metropolitan Police Inspector, who found the allegation of misconduct in relation to failing to investigate the report of sexual assault to be proven and issued a written warning to the Detective Constable. The chair found there was no evidence of discrimination by the Detective Constable. Throughout the misconduct meeting, Fredreko was misgendered as male by both the Detective Constable and the chair of the meeting.

Lawyers set out proposed claim for breach of Fredreko’s human rights and agree settlement with police

In January 2023, Irwin Mitchell solicitors sent a pre-action letter to the Metropolitan Police on behalf of Fredreko to set out the proposed claim for breach of Fredreko’s human rights. After further correspondence with the Metropolitan Police, a settlement was agreed in December 2023 which resulted in the police paying five-figure damages to Fredreko. The Met did not admit liability.

Oliver Carter is the specialist public law and human rights lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Fredreko.

Expert Opinion

“Fredreko has suffered appalling trauma and injustice; first being subjected to a terrifying ordeal in their home, and second due to the total failure of the Metropolitan Police to investigate the report of serious crimes committed against them. As a result of this, Fredreko has lost trust in the police and feels they were discriminated against as a non-binary person.

“Last year, a landmark report by Louise Casey concluded that the Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Fredreko’s experiences add to this serious questions around transphobia within the Metropolitan Police. Hopefully police forces will learn from this and other cases to ensure that all survivors of sexual offences are properly supported and have their cases fairly and effectively investigated by the police.

“Whilst nothing can undo the harm done to Fredreko and the failures by the police, I hope that the settlement of their Human Rights Act case will help Fredreko to rebuild their life, with the ongoing support of their therapist, friends and family. It has been a privilege to represent Fredreko, who has been a pillar of dignity throughout this ordeal.” Oliver Carter - Associate Solicitor

Fredreko has no trust in police following the complaint process

Fredreko said: “My attack lasted 13 hours, until I was able to leave my attacker in my flat. After the trauma I experienced I went to the roof and was considering whether to jump. Instead, I considered who I would be leaving behind and called the police.

“When the police arrived, my attacker was still there and acted like nothing had occurred. The police witnessed him trying to punch me. In a trauma state, I just kept saying ‘get him out, get him out’. In that moment I could not find the word ‘rape’, so I told the police that ‘questionable sexual consent acts’ took place.  A week later I was able to attend a police station and give a full statement explaining in detail, over the course of a six hour interview, what had happened to me.

“At the time of me reporting the sexual assault to the police, the Stephen Port case was in the press, and when I brought this to the police’s attention they still didn’t listen to me. I think they felt I was overreacting. As a non-binary human, I know that cisgender people often make us feel like we are over-reacting, due to pathologising our gender identity marker as the problem, so much so that they are not conscious of it.

“In 2021, with the support of Survivors UK, I was supported to make a complaint to the Metropolitan Police, and later to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. At every stage over the last three years I felt the police put barrier after barrier up with regards to my case. At the end of 2022, I could finally see my original police statement and the police admitted wilful neglect in how they handled my case. They still deny institutionalised transphobia. The misconduct meeting felt like another transphobic attack as my dead name and old gender pronouns were used throughout the meeting.

“The police have said I would need to begin a new sexual assault investigation if I wanted to prosecute my attacker, although there is no physical evidence due to the police not following the correct process when I first reported the offences. Due to these failures, I’m not willing to re-traumatise myself, and given the complaint process I have no trust in the police.”

*Fredreko is not their real name; as a victim of sexual offences, they are entitled to anonymity.

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