West Mercia police accused of ‘shaming' alleged victim of child sexual abuse
A police force that admits negligently breaching the anonymity of an alleged victim of child sexual abuse has been accused of 'victim shaming' after citing her subsequent public campaigning as reason for reduced compensation.
The identity of Heidi Clutterbuck, 53, was revealed in error to a witness by a West Mercia police detective in 2015 as the officer carried out an investigation into her claims of being abused by her late brother.
After years of legal wrangling at a cost to Clutterbuck of £193,000, the force formally admitted liability in court documents filed earlier this month, but police lawyers are arguing her decision to then go public about her experiences diminishes her claim for damages.
West Mercia police cite in support of their defence Clutterbuck's decision to give evidence at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse established by Theresa May and to speak to media, including to the BBC.
The force claims: 'In or about July 2017, the claimant participated in a victim and survivor seminar held as part of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), in the course of which the claimant disclosed her status as a survivor of child sexual abuse and shared her experiences of reporting the offence to the police.
'The claimant's comments/account appear alongside her name in transcripts of the seminars on the IICSA website; the claimant has also shared her experiences and commentary on the issue on Twitter (since 2016), via a Facebook blog, on a BBC programme etc.
'The claimant's decision to share her experiences (not long after the disclosure which is the subject of this claim, in much greater detail than in the disclosure and with the world at large rather than a single family member), while entirely within her rights and representing a valuable contribution to the public discourse, is nonetheless a highly material event which overtakes and supersedes the defendant's breach of duty.'
Clutterbuck, a mother of five who lives in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, said she had been horrified to discover the officer's error in revealing her identity after receiving a message on Facebook late at night, but that she would not have gone on to make the legal claim if an immediate apology had been offered.
She said: 'I was so scared, and I was so scared [for] my young children, and it just was awful. It was a Saturday night, so there's nothing I could do. Spent the whole night up crying. I was at the police station at first light … They were just really dismissive, and it just that's when everything changed. I became the enemy of them. Well, you know, that's my perception of it.
'I spent three and a half years going through the complaint system, being told at every step of the way, this is not a breach, this is not a breach, this is not a breach.'
Clutterbuck got legal representation in 2018 and her claim was made in 2021 but the formal admission of liability by West Mercia police was only recently made in an amended defence filed at court. She said her decision to speak about her abuse after the officer had revealed her identity was made in an attempt to get control of her situation.
She said: 'To my mind, the only solution to that type of thing happening is to actually take control and say, I give up anonymity, and I am going to speak on this topic, and I am going to not have the shame that you give me. Still in the papers that have gone to the high court, they criticise me and use it as a way of downgrading their damage.
'This is why victims don't challenge the police, because they have the public purse. It is appalling that they're using public money to fight these cases where actually: you've admitted liability.'
Clutterbuck added: 'Nobody else really has the right to know I'm a victim of sexual abuse unless I choose to tell them. And the very notion that the people that you trust and that actually are protecting you are the ones that breach that trust and place you in that position is appalling.'
Maria Mulla, a barrister who is working with victims of the late owner of Harrods Mohamed Al Fayed, is representing Clutterbuck. She said: 'The decision to disclose or not is a colossal one for survivors of sexual abuse and in particular child sexual abuse.
'West Mercia police stole Heidi's lifetime right to absolute anonymity, a right that is enshrined in legislation. Once this had been stolen from her Heidi had no choice but to be brave and take back control by advocating for others.'
West Mercia police declined a request for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Doctor warns of 'highly toxic' effect of popular natural remedy - after it puts toddler in a coma
Ingesting tea tree oil could result in life-threatening organ damage, seizures and even a coma, a GP has warned. According to Dr Sermed Mezher, a UK based doctor, swallowing tiny amounts of the essential oil can result in serious poisoning 'within a minute'. In an Instagram video that has so far been viewed over 2.1million times, Dr Mezher explained the risks in response to a video of a young boy who ended up in a coma after swallowing it. Dr Mezher said: 'Swallowing tea tree oil can be highly toxic due to its potent chemical composition, which includes terpinen-4-ol, cineole, and other volatile compounds.' Terpinen-4-ol is the most abundant compound in tea tree oil—extracted from the Melaleuca alternifolia tree—which posses antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. However when ingested, the oil can rapidly affect the nervous system, leading to drowsiness, loss of coordination and seizures. In 2022 alone, the US poison control centre treated more than 2,200 cases of toxicity linked to tea tree oil. 'One of them was a 23-month-old boy who drank just 10mls which put him in a coma for five hours until he thankfully recovered,' Dr Mezher explained. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sermed Mezher (@drsermedmezher) He added that its supposed benefits for skin health may also be bogus. 'Tree oil has been sold as a miracle cure to multiple skin conditions, and yet there's very little evidence that it works,' he said. A 2023 study found that tea tree oil has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that helped treat teenage and adult acne—though researchers cautioned it was not possible to draw conclusions on its safety. The poison control centre treated twice as many cases of toxicity caused by tea tree oil compared to any other essential oil, including cinnamon, clove and eucalyptus oil. 'I don't know about you, but I am not keeping this at home,' Dr Mezher cautioned. As well as attacking the nervous system, ingesting the 'horrifically toxic' product can also irritate the gastrointestinal tract, causing nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. 'Tea tree oil is also harsh on the liver,' Dr Mezher added. 'The body struggles to metabolise its toxic components, potentially leading to organ damage with repeated or high-dose exposure.' 'Because tea tree oil absorbs quickly into the bloodstream, poisoning symptoms can appear within minutes to a few hours. 'If ingestion occurs, immediate medical attention is essential to prevent serious complications.' The NHS warns against trying to make someone who has swallowed something poisonous and is unconscious sick, and recommends instead putting them in the recovery position until an ambulance arrives. Tea tree oil, a common ingredient in many skincare products, has previously been linked to a number of superbug infections including MRSA—a type of bacteria that is resistant to treatment and causes life-threatening infection. US scientists discovered that repeated low-dose use of the essential oil made the MRSA bacteria, as well as and salmonella, more resistant to antibiotics. Professor David McDowell, from the University of Ulster, warned that people who use tea tree oil on their skin repeatedly to treat acne, could be 'stressing' the bacteria on the skin rather than killing it—increasing their resistance to antibiotics. 'Although tea tree oil may be an effective antimicrobial agent when appropriately used at high concentrations, its application at low concentrations may contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance in human pathogens,' he warned.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
White Brits will be a minority in the UK within the next 40 years, report claims
White Brits will become a minority race in the UK population within the next 40 years, a new report has claimed. A study into birth rates and migration levels has predicted that white British people will make up only 33.7 per cent of the population by the end of the century. The research conducted by Professor Matt Goodwin of Buckingham University says the projected change will come in phases: first falling from the current level of 73 per cent to 57 per cent by 2050, then into the minority levels by 2063. Professor Goodwin's report also suggests significant changes for foreign-born citizens and second-generation immigrants, who currently make up less than 20 per cent of the population. These groups, the report says, will comprise 33.5 per cent of the UK's population in the next 25 years. It also predicts a near three-times increase in the number of Muslims living in the UK, suggesting that almost one in five people living in Britain will be followers of Islam by the end of the century. By the year 2100, the report expects 60 per cent of people living in the UK to have at least have one immigrant parent. Professor Goodwin said his research, which was based on Office for National Statistics and census data, will 'spark anxiety, concern and political opposition' among voters who wish to 'maintain the culture of the traditional majority'. He added: 'By the end of the current century, most of the people on these islands will not be able to trace their roots in this country back more than one or two generations. 'This raises enormous questions about the capacity of our country and leaders to unify people around a shared sense of identity, values, ways of life, and culture, and avoid the very real risk of us becoming what Sir Keir Starmer referred to in May as "an island of strangers".' In the report titled 'Demographic Change and the Future of the United Kingdom', Professor Goodwin also warned of the UK's ability to 'absorb and manage this scale of demographic change'. He said: 'What these projections show is that the UK is currently on course to experience enormous and historically unprecedented changes in the composition of its population.' Professor Goodwin's projections were based on non-white ethnic groups having a higher fertility rate until the end of the century. The UK- born fertility rate used was 1.39 for those born in the UK , 1.97 for foreign-born people, for Muslims it was 2.35, and for non-Muslims 1.54. The report comes just days after 1,200 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in what was labelled 'a day of shame '. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer even faced criticism from one of his own ministers who said control of Britain's borders had been lost as a surge in dinghy crossings overwhelmed French and UK border patrol vessels. The latest Home Office figures show that 1,194 migrants arrived in 18 boats, bringing the provisional annual total so far to 14,811. This is 42 per cent higher than the 10,448 at the same point last year and 95 per cent up from the same point in 2023, 7,610. It is still lower than the highest daily total of 1,305 arrivals since data began in 2018, which was recorded on September 3, 2022. But the total of arrivals for the year, 14,811, is the highest ever recorded for the first five months of a year since data was first recorded on Channel crossings in 2018. It has also surpassed the highest total recorded for the first six months of the year, which was previously 13,489 on June 30 last year - and n 2024 the number of arrivals did not reach more than 14,000 until July 9, reaching 14,058. At Gravelines in northern France, more than half a dozen French police officers stood by and watched as migrants waded into the sea and scrambled on to an inflatable boat. French authorities said they rescued 184 people. One of Sir Keir's senior cabinet ministers admitted the scenes were 'pretty shocking' as he said the UK had 'lost control of its borders over the last five years'. Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News that the latest crossings revealed a 'really big problem' - but insisted there was pressure being put on France for better co-operation and crackdowns ahead. Britain had agreed a deal in 2023 to pay France £480million over three years to stop the crossings, including £175million in the current financial year – more than £480,000 per day. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded the latest Channel scenes 'a disgrace but sadly entirely expected' and 'a day of shame for the Labour Government'. He added: 'It's a shameful failure by the French to discharge their duties to stop illegal migration. The French are failing to stop these crossings by illegal immigrants. 'Over a thousand illegal immigrants in a single day, boats flooding the Channel, Border Force stretched beyond breaking point, and even fishing vessels drafted in because our maritime rescue services are overwhelmed.' And Richard Tice MP, deputy leader of Reform UK, said: 'It looks like we pay hundreds of millions to give French police officers photography lessons because they are certainly not providing any security. Frankly, the Government should be suing the French for our money back.' At least 18 migrant boats were seen leaving the French coast on Sunday, June 1, carrying more than 1,000 people - exceeding the previous daily record for 2025 of 825, set earlier last month. Mr Healey added: 'Pretty shocking, those scenes [on Sunday]. The truth is, Britain's lost control of its borders over the last five years. 'The last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration. 'But I think that [Sunday] tells us a really big problem which is that you've got French police unable to intervene to intervene and intercept the boats when they are in shallow water. 'We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming round like a taxi to pick them up.' Mr Healey insisted there was 'new co-operation' with the French suggesting their officials would intervene in the water. When asked whether he was 'hacked off' with France for not doing so now, Mr Healey said: 'They are not doing it, but we've got the agreement that they will change the way they work. 'Our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Police told of racist attack weeks before Bhim Kohli killed
An elderly man who was racially abused before being fatally attacked had told police he witnessed an assault on another Asian man yards from his home two weeks earlier, the BBC has Kohli had been walking his dog in a park in Leicestershire in September when he was punched and kicked by a 14-year-old boy while a girl, 12, filmed the BBC has learnt that Mr Kohli spoke to officers in August after he saw two white boys aged 12 and 13 racially abuse a man and throw a large rock at him near the same park where the 80-year-old encountered his own attackers. Leicestershire Police said "organisational learning" to improve logging anti-social behaviour had been identified. Mr Kohli died the day after the "intense attack" against him in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town near Leicester, for which the boy and girl, now aged 15 and 13 respectively, were both convicted of manslaughter. They are due to be sentenced on eyewitness to the attack in August, Linda Haigh, said she warned police about racially motivated problems in the area before Mr Kohli died, and believes he would still be alive had they taken her more seriously. The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, was walking to Franklin Park on 17 August when he was targeted by the two boys, who were not involved in Mr Kohli's told the BBC: "One of the boys started picking up stones and throwing them at me... and then the same boy picked up a quite a large rock from the front garden of one of the houses there, and tried to throw it at me."The man, aged in his 40s, said they shouted at him to "go back to your village"."It was a throwback to back to the 80s, when it was quite commonplace to be racially abused," he said. "I was shocked that this kind of behaviour was still around society."I've not been in that situation for a long time, maybe 40 years." It was when one of the boys picked up a wooden fence post and tried to hit the man with it that others - including Mr Kohli and his daughter Susan, and their neighbour Ms Haigh - intervened, according to the said he was shocked by the "kind of behaviour from such a young age group"."The racist language, the violence used as well... they were trying to physically hurt me," he added."The anger, but more just the vitriol of the whole thing."Police were called but the pair were not arrested until three days after the death of Mr Kohli, according to the believes a greater police presence in the area following the assault could have prevented the attack on Mr Kohli two weeks later."They should have really looked at putting more presence there, more officers, maybe mobile police cars driving around," he said."They could have deterred them. It's obviously very tragic." During the trial of Mr Kohli's killers, the court was told about an occasion "a week or two" before his death when the girl convicted of his manslaughter was present while other children threw apples at jury was also shown a video she had filmed on her phone of another Asian man having a water balloon thrown at him and being racially BBC has also been told it was reported to police that in July Mr Kohli had stones thrown at him, was spat at and had been racially abused by a group of children after he told them to get off his neighbour's garage Supt Jonathan Starbuck, of Leicestershire Police, said: "Prior to Mr Kohli's death, police were aware of two reports of anti-social behaviour involving youths in the Franklin Park area which were being investigated. "Partnership work in the area following Mr Kohli's death did identify further incidents which had not been reported."He added an investigation conducted by the force, reviewed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, did not identify any "misconduct or missed opportunities which could have prevented Mr Kohli's death". The attacks have left the victim of the August assault fearful for his safety and that of his elderly parents, who also live in the area. His father, like Mr Kohli, likes to go for a walk, but since being targeted, he tells him not to, especially in the dark, he told the BBC."Even my nephews... you worry about them as well because you just don't know. It's just become more violent," he two boys involved in the August assault appeared in youth court in Leicester in December charged with racially or religiously aggravated common admitted the offences but were later dealt with out of court by way of a deferred youth caution following a referral to the youth justice panel for an out-of-court process aims to divert young people away from the criminal justice system where possible, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Ms Haigh, who was friends with Mr Kohli for more than 20 years, told the BBC she called police when she saw the two boys involved in the August assault pick up the boulder from outside her neighbour's house and throw it at the said she was aware of similar attacks by young people happening last summer in Braunstone Town and told police it needed to be "nipped in the bud"."I don't think it was taken serious enough," she said."I think they should have acted on it. I feel that we've been totally let down."Ch Supt Starbuck said: "We continue to monitor the area of Franklin Park and have engaged with the community through a local survey, drop-in centres, engagement with local schools, youth work and proactive policing patrols."
