Tri-Service

Military Police Apologises For Rape Investigation Failure

The Royal Military Police (RMP) has formally apologised to the family of Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement for failing to properly investigate the allegation of rape she made two years before taking her own life, following the threat of legal action by the family.

In a statement released today, the RMP – the Army’s internal police force – admits that "mistakes were made" in the investigation and that "Anne-Marie deserved better". The RMP statement says:

"It is now clear that mistakes were made in the original investigation, including in relation to decision making. As a result, aspects of the original investigation were unsatisfactory.

"Anne-Marie deserved better and for that the Royal Military Police apologises unreservedly to her family for those failings."

"In apologising to her family, the Royal Military Police and the wider Army pay tribute to them for the courage and determination that they have shown on behalf of Anne-Marie.”

Anne-Marie was an RMP police officer. In 2009, while serving in Germany, she alleged that she had been raped by two colleagues.

Despite the fact that all involved were RMP staff, her allegation was investigated by the RMP themselves. An Army prosecutor decided no charges would be brought - a decision that devastated Anne-Marie.

Two years later, after suffering bullying – and what the Coroner at her inquest called "work-related despair" – she took her own life. Khristina Swain, Anne-Marie’s sister, said:

"I feel this apology has come a little late for our family and I’m disappointed we have had to ask for it – but we welcome it and are happy that they have realised they failed to properly protect my sister. The RMP let Anne-Marie down 100 per cent – please give her one last bit of respect and don’t fail others. Don’t let victims or families go through what our family went through. Not just the pain and grief – but having to fight just to get to the truth."

A fresh, independent rape investigation was secured after Cpl Ellement's family threatened the Ministry of Defence with action under the Human Rights Act.

This resulted in the prosecution and acquittal of two former soldiers earlier this year. Both the Director of Service Prosecutions and the judge at the trial said it had been right to bring the case – and that charges should have been brought when Anne-Marie was alive.

It comes a fortnight after Prime Minister Theresa May and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon pledged to derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights for all future conflicts, which would remove the protections of the Human Rights Act from British troops serving overseas.

Emma Norton, Liberty’s Legal Director and solicitor for Anne-Marie’s family, said: "It is stories like Anne-Marie's that show exactly how important the Human Rights Act is for our soldiers and their families – and exactly why the government and Ministry of Defence are so opposed to it.

"It was only the Human Rights Act that let Anne-Marie's sisters secure a fresh inquest, exposing the bullying she had suffered and leading to important reforms for crime victims in our Armed Forces. It was only the Act that let them secure a fresh, independent rape investigation."

Currently, Commanding Officers in the Armed Forces can choose to investigate allegations of serious criminal offences including rape, sexual assault and other violent crime themselves, without referring the matter to the police.

Timeline:

November 2009: Cpl Anne-Marie Ellement reports that she has been raped by two male Royal Military Police (RMP) officers. The allegation is investigated by the RMP themselves.
January 2010: The Service Prosecuting Authority (the Army prosecuting body) informs Cpl Ellement that a decision has been made not to prosecute.
October 2011: Cpl Ellement takes her own life at Bulford Barracks in Wiltshire.
March 2012: A brief inquest rules that Cpl Ellement committed suicide.
February 2014: A fresh inquest into Cpl Ellement’s death opens.
March 2014: The Coroner rules that the lingering mental effects of an act of alleged rape, workplace bullying, “work-related despair” and the breakdown of a brief relationship all contributed to Cpl Ellement’s suicide.
October 2015: The Director of Service Prosecutions confirms that two former soldiers have each been charged with two counts of rape. In a written statement, he says: "In coming to this decision I have concluded that the original decision by the SPA not to prosecute was wrong."
April 2016: Two men are acquitted of the rape of Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement. The judge expresses strong concerns about the culture within the Royal Military Police and emphasises that the case should have been heard five years earlier.