Unmask Prejudice
When walking hand in hand with your partner on the street is a criminal offence!
APRIL 2015
On April 13, 2015, Joseph Spencer was arrested and charged for offence of rape (which was later dropped) by the West Yorkshire Bradford Police following an allegation that he was seen walking hand-in-hand with a young woman on the street. During the police interview, the couple provided evidence that their relationship was within parental consent to marry, by law. His partner was placed under police imposed protection, and Joseph Spencer was released on bail pending further police investigation.
MAY 2015
On May 5, 2015, Joseph Spencer voluntarily surrendered himself to the police, acknowledging that he had breached the bail condition prohibiting contact with his partner. Police Donna Hector placed him under arrest for Witness Intimidation and that he intimidated his partner when they had contact. Joseph was immediately brought before the Bradford Magistrate Court and subsequently remanded in HMP-Leeds prison.
However, during the 13 July 2015 hearing his partner submitted a witness statement to the Court that she was not intimidated by Joseph and that she had always wanted to see him and was happy that they had contact. The false ‘Witness Intimidation’ charge was rightly dropped.
However, the Court maintained his continued remand in prison custody following the police Donna Hector claim to have further allegation of offence against him.
JUNE 2015
On June 19, 2015, Joseph Spencer was charged with four counts by the police based on allegations made by the police Donna Hector during her recorded interview with Joseph’s partner. The allegation claimed that he engaged in sexual activity with her when she was under the age of sixteen but before her sixteenth birthday. (Note: The legal age of consent in the UK is sixteen, and parental consent is required for individuals aged sixteen and seventeen to marry.)
However, during the trial in April 2016, his partner testified before the jury that the first instance of sexual activity occurred after her sixteenth birthday. As a result, Joseph Spencer was acquitted of three counts related to underage charges, but he was convicted on one count of inciting his partner to engage in sexual activity when she was fifteen. This particular count is currently under review by the CCRC for appeal, as the discrepancy arises: how could he have incited her when she was fifteen when the first instance of sexual activity occurred after her sixteenth birthday?
AUGUST 2015
On August 3, 2015, Joseph Spencer faced further charges by the police Donna Hector, alleging that his partner suffered from a mental disorder that impeded her ability to make choices and that she attended a special school. However, during a hearing on March 3, 2016, held at the Bradford Crown Court, it was determined that the charge constituted an abuse of process and bad faith on the part of the police, under Section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act 1984 – Police Code of Practice. Consequently, the opinion charges were rightfully dropped.
OCTOBER 2015
On October 5, 2015, Joseph Spencer was once again charged by the police Donna Hector, this time with possessing 50 Shades of Grey Halloween-themed sexual images of himself and his partner on his mobile phone and on their shared home computer. Among the images presented as evidence during the trial was a 29-second video selfie in which a female voice seemed to be crying and distressed. The prosecution alleged that this was evidence of Joseph tormenting or abusing his partner during sexual activity. The jury convicted Joseph Spencer on all counts related to the creation of the sexual photographs. However, these charges are currently under review by the CCRC for appeal, as both Joseph and his partner claim that there was never any crying or distress in their sexual relationship. They further assert that the video must have been tampered with by the police in order to secure a conviction on the sex offence charges.
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