Woman crowdfunding case to bring ‘rapist’ to justice as prosecutors refuse to press charges
A woman who says she was raped by a stranger has set up a crowdfunding campaign to bring her alleged attacker to justice. Prosecutors refused to press charges, despite claims from Emily Hunt that she woke up “naked and terrified” in a London hotel room.
Hunt, who has waived her right to anonymity, says she was drugged and raped. The 38-year old says she woke up next to a man who she did not know at Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green in May 2015, and called a friend who contacted police.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said there was not enough evidence to bring charges. According to reports, police suggested she may have made up the allegations because she had been unfaithful to her boyfriend - something she denies. CCTV footage showed her with the man being “very flirty” and “kissing him.”
Hunt told the Evening Standard that she had gone out for lunch but could not recall anything after 4pm. “I wake up naked and terrified on a hotel bed next to a man I’d never seen before. I suspected that I had been drugged, and, as I found out two days later, I had been raped. I reported it immediately so the police had me, my rapist and the hotel room.
“They found used condoms in the room. The Crown Prosecution Service told me they couldn’t prosecute. One reason was that there is CCTV footage of me being very flirty, kissing him. But I believe I was drugged. In the CCTV, I’m literally falling over, so it’s very clear that I’m heavily intoxicated.
“I don’t remember meeting him or any of that. It was impossible for me to have given consent. I was falling over.” She added: “The police wouldn’t take me for a medical exam because I was too intoxicated to give consent for a medical exam.”
Hunt, who is originally from New York and is now a consultant in Hackney, said she is setting up a campaign to raise funds and bring a private prosecution in the case. A page that she has set up on GoFundMe.com has raised more than £5,500 ($7,230) towards a £100,000 ($131,500) goal.
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The CPS said in a statement: “Having looked carefully at the evidence, a specialist prosecutor decided there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction in this case. At the request of the victim, the case was subject to a further review by the head of our rape and sexual offences team, who upheld the original decision.
“We met the victim to explain the decision further and answer any questions she had. While we are of course sympathetic to the complainant, this is not a prosecution we were able to bring to court.”
