A rape victim has expressed outrage following the rejection of her plea for criminal injury compensation due to a time limitation on submissions.
Julie Crompton, 50, courageously relinquished her right to anonymity following the conviction of her ex-boyfriend Allen Alexander-Rouse, 40, for various offences against her and another former partner.
She was astonished to learn that she was ineligible for criminal injury compensation because her suffering commenced in 2006, rendering the offences against her over two years old.
Opposition MSPs have characterised the ruling as “perverse” and called for amendments.
In a letter appealing the decision of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), Julie explained she had been trapped and controlled.
All her efforts went into trying to keep her children safe and she only reported the abuse years later.
In her moving letter, Julie wrote: “You should know that many women in abusive relationships do not ask for help for many reasons, but one of these is fear of the consequences from their abuser.
“You should also know that even when an abusive relationship like mine ends, it can take time for survivors like me to realise that what has been happening to them amounts to rape.
“Women who are badly beaten by their partners do not go to bed with them later and consent to sex. They are surviving and trying to make sure their children survive.
“If someone had asked me when he left whether I’d been raped, I was so con-fused and traumatised by his conduct over many years that I honestly don’t know if I could have said ‘yes’.”
Allen Alexander-Rouse, an engineer, was jailed for seven years in 2022 after being convicted at Livingston High Court of violence as well as three counts of rape, two against Julie, and two sexual assaults spanning 16 years.
Julie said: “I don’t see my application for compensation as trying to cash in on my situation. My relationship with him has affected every aspect of my life and the lives of my children.
“The compensation would be welcome and go a little way to making up for what we’ve lost.
“The rejection makes me feel as though we’re being punished because I had the bad fortune to let a monster into our lives and took a while to be able to deal with this part of the process.
“I don’t know how I was supposed to know there was a time limit. No one told me there was a clock ticking. In fact, no one told me about criminal injuries at all. To be honest, I would have assumed I had to wait until he was convicted.
“It would have seemed presumptuous to claim before then. It is devastating to be turned down as the people who would benefit most from any award would be my kids, and they had so much to put up with while he was in
our lives.
“We lived in terror of him for years and nothing can make up for that, but I’d like to be able to do something nice for them and have a bit more security.
“I’ve another few weeks to make a final appeal, but as they dismissed my last appeal without even addressing the points I made, it’s hard to see the point. I feel totally demoralised. Dealing with the justice system has been an ordeal.
“He was convicted of raping me twice and of further sexual assaults and raping another woman. He also ruined our lives for years, and gets just seven years. That was already painful, but this feels like an almighty slap in the face.”
Scottish Tory deputy justice spokesperson Sharon Dowey said: “It’s perverse and plain wrong that this poor woman has been denied the compensation she deserves due to a legal technicality. There has to be flexibility.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This was an awful crime and we fully appreciate the difficult circumstances Miss Crompton finds herself in reporting and coming to terms with this historical offence. Unfortunately, the rules require applications to be made within two years unless there are exceptional circumstances.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.