Posted on 04/17/2010 11:30:13 AM PDT by Christian Cage
A man who was falsely accused of sexual assault hanged himself after police failed to tell him they had dropped the case, an inquest heard.
John Keogh, 23, was ‘very upset and angry’ after a hospital patient claimed he had indecently assaulted her.
An investigation was launched but police decided to drop the case and withdraw all charges after interviewing him.
However, officers did not plan to tell Mr Keogh – who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 18 - until four days later – by which time, he had hanged himself with a pair of shoelaces.
His family believe he would not have killed himself if police had told him that he was no longer a suspect.
At jury inquest held in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, which returned a narrative verdict, the delay was described as a ‘contributing factor’ to Mr Keogh’s death.
The chair juror said: ‘He took his life by hanging, however, we feel that a failure to recognise the risk of this happening to him, particularly subsequent to the police interview may have been a contributing factor.’
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Keogh’s brother, Christopher, 34, from Trowbridge, slammed police as ‘negligent’.
He said: ‘There was a lot of crying down the phone about what had been allegedly done. He was crying that he didn't do anything. He was very angry.
‘There should have been more communication between the police and mental health partnership.
‘The system just failed him. They were negligent. If John had been told the allegations had been dropped I don't think we would be here today.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I wonder if the “hospital patient” was herself a whack job. It is a tragic story.
And not bothering to try and rectify, AT ALL, the havoc they caused in this man’s life. Making a false report, even verbally, is a FELONY in my state, never heard of a woman being arrested for doing so.
It’s simply part of the gender warfare used to split up families, and make everyone a payor, or payee to the state. Sickening.
payor to, payee from.
I hope the patient recuperates as soon as possible so she can be turned over to the authorities and relocated to a prison for the rest of her life.
“An example of how police, in general, take the word of a woman, before fully analyzing all the facts, over a man.”
The same thing happens when spoiled kids, who don’t get their own way, level abuse charges. The man is automatically considered guilty and, even after being proven completely innocent, the stigma haunts for the rest of his life.
It is tragic, just cause the case was dropped, don't know if the guy did nothing, maybe they just didn't have evidence.
I have a relative with the problems this guy had and often they are horny people who don't in their thinking go A-B-C-D. They may go A-C-D-B, get all agitated easily and creep out lots of women as they stare inappropriately at them in almost stalking like fashion.
I've seen it in action, you can talk to them all you want, but in their mental illness, they don't get it and consider your chat with them a rude challenge to them.
I think something happened on some level there that spooked the woman. Didn't raise to the level of pressing charges, but could have come close.
Too bad this fellow's mental illness caused him to take his life. They tend to often commit suicide as it is by age 50, but the whole thing sounds like it went bad.
Shades of Kafka’s “Joseph K.”
Sad and ‘officially’ abusive. Am wondering if he left a note.
That’s why being alone with a woman or someone else’s child is always a risk to your reputation. As a society, we used to know this.
And how being accused of such a crime could completely destroy somebody. Imagine being wrongly accused of being some kind of pervert or sexual predator and you have to go to work the next and face your co-workers, face your friends, family members, neighbors, your church, etc. It would just be ruining.
Same reason I quit watching CSI - one episode was similar although the guy didn’t hang himself his life was ruined. The woman investigator after being asked by him why she did what she did said “It was my job” ...
Look at the Roethlisberger situation. Every ESPN radio analyst/tv personality has come out and said they are disgusted by the allegations and now have a negative view of Roethlisberger.
Now, it is possible that everything alleged did happen. But right now it is all allegations, and the police decided not to move forward, for some reason. For all he know, Ben could have raped her or she could have made it up. But now there is pressure to suspend and trade Ben. And whats the deal with reports of Rooney seeing the police brief on tv and flying into fits of rage and disgust. Are they saying Rooney didnt know, or is it a ploy to make an Obama supporter look sympathetic?
And also, is it usual for police departments to drop a case, and then go on tv and divulge everything they worked on?
Yep, ask Joseph of Egypt (Jacob/Israel’s Son).
4 days for paperwork maybe, but you cant tell a man in 1 day that your’e not charging him anymore? If so, then the process for sexual assault is BS.
Yep, in any abuse claim. Studies have shown that 60% of women in battered shelters (at the time questioned by researchers) indicate they were not abused, but wanted an easy way to get a divorce.
I blame the government for inducing these types of situations by incentivizing divorce. Adding infult to injury, for example in TX, or OK, I’ll have to find it, there was a man who PROVED (DNA) he was not a father and was forced to pay for child support anyway, because a court already had said he was the father, and would neither prosecute the woman for fraud, nor cease to demand payment from the man, nor force the fraudulent woman to repay him.
It’s gender warfare, and it’s sick. PROSECUTE BOTH GENDERS, it’s not “For the good of the children,” to keep mommiy out of jail. Lock her up just the same. Now, back to the topic...
Yep, it doesn’t take 4 days to nab him after the accusation, I’m sure.
Accusations of “sex abuse” have skyrocketted these last decades.There is certainly a real increase of cases due to a mainstream moral liberalism/licenciousness spread by MSM but there is also a big increase of fake accusations used as tools against people or institutions
Yeah, probably about 4 minutes.
In other words, he was still under the impression that the charges were still hanging over him.
That's a bit different than if they had told him and then it took for 4 days to clear the paperwork.
From the article: Wiltshire Police interviewed Mr Keogh on July 1, 2009 and decided to drop the case against him on July 4.
Officers immediately informed the complainant but did not plan to tell Mr Keogh until July 7.
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