False accusations distort the picture
I READ with interest the article printed on 19 February with respect to domestic violence and the figure taken from the 2012 police annual report that states there were 705 reported cases of domestic abuse. Although domestic abuse is extremely serious, we are all aware of the police's zero tolerance towards it. However, what is actually more interesting is the 2011 police annual report, which states there were 802 reported cases yet only 329 arrests.
Since the police adopt a zero-tolerance policy, can we therefore assume that the other 473 reported cases were false or unsubstantiated accusations? Furthermore, what the report does not tell us is, of those 329 arrests, how many resulted in a successful prosecution? Once that figure is established then surely you then have a true actual figure of domestic violence cases.
We all feel for those true victims of violence. However, what is even more despicable are those that use false accusations of domestic violence to their own ends, more often or not when finishing a relationship when it is used to gain the 'upper hand' to remove these poor victims from the property and to remove them from the children's lives and to enable them to extort maintenance and money from these poor unsuspecting victims and so destroying lives and reputations.
Can it not be understood that these people, by crying wolf, are not only degrading genuine victims, they are also using valuable assets and resources that could otherwise be used elsewhere?
Even when these allegations are proved to be false, there are no repercussions for the perpetrators of 'perverting the course of justice' and/or 'perjury'. These criminals are allowed to go scot-free, leaving behind a trail of destruction and that nagging doubt in everyone's mind that there's 'no smoke without fire'. These perpetrators need to be brought to justice and the reputations and lives of the innocent restored.
RICHARD PRICE,
Address withheld.
