THE Scottish Court Service (SCS) has been branded a "disgrace" after it put a rape victim's name on the internet.
The 19-year-old's details were posted on the SCS website last week, sparking outrage by women's groups and anti-violence campaigners. Experts in victim support said the publication could undermine the faith of women and other sex victims in the justi
ce system.
The SCS yesterday admitted it made "an error". Embarrassed officials – told of the mistake by Scotland on Sunday – have now removed the women's details from the website.
The woman was the alleged victim of Michael Dyer, who was jailed for five years in 2006 for raping her in Glasgow when she was 15 and he 42. Dyer's conviction was quashed last week after three of Scotland's most senior judges ruled the jury in his initial trial had been misdirected, but he remains in custody pending further hearings and a possible retrial.
His alleged victim's name, date of birth and the area of Glasgow where she came from were posted online in a court document relating to his appeal.
Dyer was accused of picking the young woman and a friend up in the centre of Glasgow after they had been drinking heavily. It was alleged he gave the 15-year-old ecstasy and cannabis before having sex with her. He said it was consensual. She – and her friend – said it was not.
Mairead Tagg, a psychologist who works with the victims of sex crimes and domestic abuse, yesterday said: "This is a disgrace. This young woman has been doubly victimised. Does she want people in her community pointing the finger at her and saying she was raped? Her confidentiality has been violated."
All Scottish media outlets, including Scotland on Sunday, have a policy of not naming the victims of sex crimes, although there is no law that prevents them from doing so. It is illegal for newspapers, broadcasters and website providers in England and Wales to publish such details. The SCS has a policy of keeping rape complainers anonymous in all published material, in line with Scottish media conventions.
Professor Lynn Jamieson, of Edinburgh University, an expert on sex crimes, said: "Presumably the Scottish Court Service are well aware of the strong reasons for keeping the names of complainers in sexual offence cases out of the public domain. Women need to be able to report rapes without fear that their name will appear in the press or that they will be left open to further victimisation by malevolent internet trawlers."
Sandy Brindley, of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: "The feedback we have from women who experienced rape or sexual abuse is that it is extremely important to them that they are able to be anonymous. There is a real fear that revealing someone's identity could deter people from coming forward to report sexual offences."
Richard Baker, Labour justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said: "This is a matter for great concern."
A spokeswoman for the SCS yesterday said: "Opinions issued in the Court of Session and in the High Court of Justiciary are normally made available to the public on the SCS website. Proceedings involving cases of sexual crime are normally published with the name of the complainer anonymised.
"In an opinion published last week on the internet, Michael Dyer v Her Majesty's Advocate, the complainer's full name was mistakenly included. That opinion has now been withdrawn."
