28/07/2014 Scotland 2014

Exclusive figures show police in different parts of Scotland

treat rape allegations very differently. Why?

If you've been raped, it shouldn't matter where it happened.

But according to our exclusive investigation, the police are far

less likely to investigate in some parts of Scotland.

We've been to the US state of Oregon, where their laws on assisted

suicide look a lot like the bill before the Scottish Parliament.

And record breakers - as Libby Clegg wins the 100m and Scotland takes

We have been investigating how the police in different parts

of Scotland treat women who say they have been raped.

And we've uncovered huge regional variations.

In the former Grampian force area, they marked a third

In other places, only 5% were considered "no crime".

Some crimes are never reported, some go unsolved and others are marked as

no crime. Kate's exporter was convicted of assault against her in

the past, but the abuse was to get worse. Five years later, I was

walking from my house to the local shops, and he appeared from

nowhere, raped me, it was at that point that he threatened me if I was

to go to the police. What did he say? He said, if you tell anyone

about this, these will be the last things you have say. Only the

assault was prosecuted, the rape was not even recorded as a crime. The

police came and fitted extra security to my house, but the CID

themselves were very unhelpful, very intimidating. Not supportive or

empathetic. In your case, it never went on to the procurator fiscal. I

don't believe it did. It is a violent offence fraught with

controversy, concerns about low conviction rate have triggered

changes. Rape cases will now be investigated

more like murder enquiries... There should be a standard of excellence

across Scotland. It should ensure these cases are treated with a level

of expertise by officers who are very well trained in this area

according to guidance, and will ensure that the same standards are

applied in these serious cases. Scotland's new police force has made

tackling rape one of its key priorities. As a victim of rape, it

is somewhere like this you would come to report the crime, but new

figures obtained by the BBC show that a high proportion of such cases

do not even make it beyond the stage of a police investigation. Your

chances of your case being referred to the prosecution vary, depending

on where you live. New figures obtained by the BBC show in the past

four years, almost 1000 reported rapes have been dropped and marked

no crime. The figures also reveal significant regional variations

across Scotland. In Grampian in the past four years, a third of rapes

reported to the police were marked no crime. More than a third of those

recorded for unsolved. In the former Lothian and Borders area, 5% were

marked as no crime and not passed to prosecutors. Here, and detected

crimes in the last four years set up 41%. Officers take some cases are

dropped because allegations are removed or because of insufficient

evidence. Justice sources say there are concerns about why and how cases

are not passed to prosecutors. Support agencies warn that despite

good intentions, there is still -- there are still problems. It can be

difficult to decide whether or not to report rape. No matter where a

summary is in Scotland, they should be able to have confidence that it

will be treated seriously, it will be treated with sensitivity and

respect, and I think the police have made a lot of steps in those

directions, but I think our concern for these figures is to see how many

cases are not making it beyond the police stage. What that shows is a

huge gap in justice for anyone who survives rape. Police Scotland

declined to be interviewed but offered a written statement.

While the police have made dramatic changes, the question remains, how

is it that a woman living in Aberdeen would be less likely to

have a rape case pursued or salt than a victim in Edinburgh?

We asked the police to join us in the studio to respond to these

Instead, Justice Spokesperson of the Scottish Conservatives,

Thank you for coming in. Are you surprised by the figures? Very much,

I would not inspect their to be less parity, certainly not variations on

this scale. We should be asking the police wider are such variations but

they did not want to come here. Can you think of any explanation as to

why you're less likely to have a crime passed to the CBS if you are

in Aberdeen than if you are in Edinburgh? Know, and I think it is

very concerning that there seems to be -- that seems to be the case.

There are clearly issues with access to justice so I would expect as a

matter of urgency for Police Scotland to be looking at these

figures and why there is such a discrepancy, and I would expect the

Scottish... And the Cabinet secretary to make this a priority,

to find out there is such a variation. -- I would expect the

Scottish Government. People find it difficult in the first place to come

forward and report these crimes. We know that only about 19% of people

that do manage to report a crime, that is all there is, there are many

more people who have been affected who are unwilling to come forward.

I'm afraid these figures Wilmot encourage people. The Scottish

Parliament was trying to tackle low conviction rates for rape, by

changing the law. Are we concentrating on what happens in the

courts too much? Do we need to be looking more at what is happening at

the police stage? Absolutely. Something like 71% are not being

followed up on after being reported, so clearly much more work

needs to be done to establish why that is the case, when figures are

so much lower in other parts of the country. We can be naive about this,

there are reported that did not happen, people do make malicious

allegations. So some percentage of their rapes reported are no crime.

5%, does that seem about right? Have we any idea? I don't think you can

quantify it, or you can say is to have such a variation regionally

cannot be right. You would expect some kind of discrepancy, but not on

this scale. So as a matter of urgency, it seems elementary, that

is the first place you would start, look at the statistics, but neither

the Scottish Government or Police Scotland, who have made it a great

parodic, seem to have played the slightest attention. -- a great

priority. I think the police committee could be looking at it a

review into Police Scotland, there was supposed to be uniformity in

having a single police force but we have these huge ditch --

discrepancies. But does that include

the right to choose when to die if you are terminally ill

and want to end your own life? In the US state of Oregon,

they have a "Die With Dignity" As our own Assisted Suicide Bill is

poised to go before Holyrood's Health Committee,

our political correspondent to examine how the law is working

there. We all gathered with him in his

bedroom. The only time during this were I ever saw a flicker of fear

was just before he took the first sip, and it was not there for long.

I said, I will see you in the morning. He said, OK. He drank the

rest of it, and within five minutes, he was gone. Gloria's husband,

photographer, took his life in 2003 out of Oregon's Die With Dignity

law. He was ill with pancreatic cancer. For him after we learned

more detail about the law, it opened up for him away to avoid the kind of

death that he had seen before. And it just relieved him, it took away

some of the anxiety. Do you have any regrets about that choice and your

husband made Rose absolutely not. Absolutely not. This state was the

first place on the planet to pass a law making it legal for a doctor to

issue it restriction that would end someone's life. -- issue a

prescription. Instrumental in this was this woman, who co-wrote the

bill which became Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, allowing

terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to give

themselves a lethal dose of medication. Having the option of

determining the manner of your death and making sure that it can be

peaceful and without trauma to your family is very important. It is very

important in improving the quality of their lives, to feel in control.

You get to own your body. You get to determine the degree of your own

suffering. Critics here fear that the right-to-die would lead to a

surge of people ending their lives. Since the law past 16 years ago,

figures show that the Oregon, the state with a population of more than

3.8 million, 1173 prescriptions have been issued by doctors. Of those,

only 752 were actually taken will stop last year, 71 people ended

their lives in this way. But the official data does challenge the

notion that Oregon's right-to-die law always leads to a quick,

peaceful death. The figures show that death can occur anything from

one minute to 104 hours after taking the medication. This retired family

doctor wrote the first legal prescription to end someone's life.

Something like 90% die within the first day and 1% have a fairly long

time, and those people, each one of them is an individual case, we're

talking about less than ten cases in Oregon. We have had, I think, one

person who walked all the way completely back-up. The medicine is

not quite as we picture it, not 100%. We use words like success, or

however you want to call it, but compared to other treatments that

perhaps a cancer patient has been used to, it is pretty dependable. In

Oregon, there is a sense that people have generally come to accept the

law. In certain cases, it is a very appropriate law. Myself, I wouldn't

do it. It is their life, if they are to be the one to pull the plug, they

should have control of it. This state Senator have come -- has come

to back the law, even blocking an effort by the U.S. Senate to

overturn it. I voted initially against the law, because I was

concerned, especially about the prospect that it could be used as a

tool against low income, but that has not been the case, and in fact,

what I think is going to be what people remember most about the

Oregon law is that it helped to generate awareness about all the

options for dealing with life-threatening illness. Let's be

clear, it is not that this only happens in Oregon. The difference is

that in other states, it is covert, surreptitious. It has no standards

of care. It has no 2nd opinions, it has no processes for safety, no

guidelines and safeguards. It just happens. I don't see why the people

of Scotland don't deserve the same respect, the same dignity, the same

trust as the people of Oregon have about determining the manner and the

time of their dying. I think it is a basic human right. Is what seems to

be right for Oregon right for Scotland?

That was Glen Campbell. With me is Patrick Harvie, who has taken over

the Assisted Suicide Bill. And Gordon McDonald, the governor of not

killing Scotland. Explain to us 1st what protections there are in the

Scottish version of the Assisted Suicide Bill. The first stage of the

process, if it is approved in its current form, it is for individuals

to have a discussion with the doctor and have their general attitude to

this issue put on their register, a preliminary declaration is the time

that we are using. This might be something that we would do if we

were fit and well and if we were not facing an immediate choice. It is

something we could have on our records to make sure the doctor

always knows what our general attitude is and whether we have

agreed. Following that they would need to be two separate request is

for assistance and at each of those three stages, there have to be

medical professionals confirming that the person meets the criteria

that will set out in the bill around terminal, life shortening conditions

and other conditions that have to do with residency and age. Following

that there would be a neutral facilitator, someone who has no

family or financial interest and is not part of the radical carotene --

medical care team. Their responsibility would be to collect

the prescription and give care and support and listen to the person

about what they need and want. It has been suggested the humanist

society would provide that facilitation services? Service. That

is about giving emotional support as well as ensuring the law is carried

out and safeguards are met. Is that enough to make sure that

someone is certain? I don't think so because apart from

anything else, people might change their mind. I think there needs to

be an awful lot more rigorous safeguards if Parliament is minded

to pass this legislation. I think Patrick would agree that what

divides us was probably the issue of principle, rather than safeguards.

Looking at the example of Oregon, where people have taken it as a

normal course of practice, does that worry you or reassure you that this

can be a part of medical care? I think it certainly worried me what

we hear from Oregon. There is a lot of issues about the Oregon system

which we would have concerns about, not least the low-level of

psychiatric or psychological assessment that takes place. The two

cases in particular of people who were offered assistant to end their

lives but not assistance in terms of treatment for cancer and other

things. There are issues that come out of Oregon that concern us.

Did you think it is evidence of success or failure?

Obviously, it depends on your world view and people who fundamentally

disagree with the principle would not call the Oregon experience a

success. There is evidence that some of the concerns of those opposed to

the legislation had not materialised. Concerns about

particular groups being vulnerable or more likely to take this option,

concerns about high numbers. It is pretty clear that Oregon has a good

track record on palliative care. We can do both to a high standard.

Thank you, both. To the Commonwealth Games now.

It has been a record-breaking day for Team Scotland.

At the traditional home of Scottish football, Hampden Park,

has played host to a thrilling day of athletics.

There for us this evening is Jonathan Sutherland.

What has been going on today? Welcome to Hampden Park. Today

Scotland were poised on 32 medals. One short of the Commonwealth Games

record, set in 1986. Could they level it today? At 8pm this evening,

Libby Clegg went in the para- 100 metres sprint final.

That was a really good reaction from Libby Clegg. She is going to win

this one x ten metres and more. And the time, 12 point 20.

A fairly straightforward win for Libby Clegg, and that drew Scotland

level on 33 medals. I am joined by Christian Malcolm. You excelled in

the sprint. What did you make of Libby Clegg this evening?

I thought it was some drastic. I spoke to her guide earlier in the

year and he said they were training for this moment, to come and perform

and win gold. It was quite straightforward for her

in the end. You can always think it is straightforward but between her

and her guide, it has to be a smooth transition and they have to work

well together so mistakes can be made.

What have you made of the atmosphere inside Hampden Park here today

because even doing the heats it was packed out.

As an athlete you want to walk into a stadium that is packed. For it to

be stacked to the rafters from day one, it is brilliant. The atmosphere

this evening may be jealous and made me want to compete against.

They have done a fantastic job. Stay there for a bit. I just want to talk

about a few other Scottish medals today. In the swimming pool this

evening. It has been a great place for Team Scotland so far in the

Commonwealth Games. Could we break that 33 medal tally? Not quite. Mark

Tully came very close in the polls this evening. This was in the 50

metres breaststroke. There were three Scots in the running but Mark

Kelly finished fourth. Just outside the medals, by 100th of a second. So

close. Ross Murdoch was there as well. No medals in the pool this

evening. Earlier in the day, Scotland broke another record. The

previous record of gold medals was at Melbourne, when Scotland got 11.

We were sitting on 11 today and could we get another one? Libby

Clegg broke the record this evening but this afternoon in the lawn

bowls, it was Alex Marshall and Paul Foster in the pairs that got the

12th gold medals for Team Scotland. They beat Malaysia 20-3. Those gold

medals were so sweet and Scotland have had another great day. It has

been a fantastic day for Scotland once again and here is the medal

table. We are on 33 medals and we are looking good at the moment.

Surely Scotland will break through that total of medals.

Christian Malcolm, what have you made of this competition so far as a

former Welsh sprinter. I think it is fantastic, the

atmosphere is fantastic and everyone has embraced it. As athletes we want

to come here and embrace the Commonwealth. It has been great for

a lot of youngsters to step up to the mark.

Thank you. Let's hope for more medals for Team Scotland tomorrow. I

am sure we will break that tally of 33.

Thanks, Jonathan. So now let's have a look at the

other stories in the news today. Joining me now are Carol Fox

from Women For Independence and prospective

Labour Party Scottish Parliamentary candidate, Catriona Headley.

Before we move onto some of the other things, what have been your

favourite moments far? Impact yesterday was wonderful. --

Erraid Davies yesterday was brilliant. She will be a fantastic

inspiration for kids to get involved in sport. At 13 she has got a

fantastic career ahead of her. I think the rendition of the singing

at the opening quality, underlining the principle of equality. As well

as the little Scottie dogs. Talking of sport, there has been a

suggestion that Nick Clegg has been saying we should talk about

boycotting the World Cup in Russia in four years time. Here we are in

the middle of our summer of sport and we are looking ahead to another

one. Is what Vladimir Putin has been up to enough to justify a boycott of

the World Cup? It is probably too early to say that making suggestions

at this stage can perhaps hamper the investigation that is going on in

eastern Ukraine, which has to have full and unfettered access. There

needs to be discussions about the ramifications for Russia and only

one of them has to be the World Cup. That is the point we have to do it.

Having contingency points as Douglas Alexander suggested, may not be a

bad idea. There is a self-denying audience on

the -- self-denying ordinance on the SNP.

I think politics affect everything in life, including sport. I am not

sure a boycott is a gesture we need to take. Once we have the evidence

we have to look at what effective action needs to be taken against

Russia or blood Putin. -- Vladimir Putin. There has been a

campaign to make sure that as many people as possible are registered to

vote in the referendum. They reckon a third of people are not

registered. I thought both campaigns have been making sure we are signed

up. Women For Independence have been up

and about. We have a mass wedding day on the 9th of August and a mass

canvas. The deadline is the 2nd of September. It is important

particularly for women to be signed up and you need to take steps to

sign up. We shouldn't need to panic anyone. The headline might have been

helpful to let people know they have to take action and hopefully we will

have the highest ever turn up on a Scottish election because we are not

voting for political parties, this is about power, control and the

future of our democracy. I think we agree we have the highest ever turn

out. Some of the recent figures are

depressing. The 2011 Holyrood election, 50%. The 97 devolution

referendum was about 60%. What will we see in September? I

think we will push over 80% and that will be great. Political engagement

in this country is an important thing and we have been talking about

legacy. In terms of the referendum, whatever it might be, should be

about engagement in politics. We have been able to take off a lot of

goodwill to make sure that engagement is not then lost.

Everyone needs to do a lot. People have been talking about how

it has been quite a bitter campaign and politicians calling each other

names. Do you think people will be turned on to politics?

That has not been my experience. Some evidence has been overblown. It

has been very enjoyable getting out there and engaging people and the

Yes campaign, people have been involved.

Thanks, both. That is all from us tonight. We will be back tomorrow at

the same time. Good night. MUSIC: "Symphony No.6"

by Beethoven performed by Zurich's

Tonhalle Orchestra.