Police apologise to woman for not pursuing sex assault report

Police finally acted and the officer who fitted Oakes' electronic tag recognised him

A woman who was sexually assaulted at a bus station said police failed to act despite her sending them photos of her attacker.

The 25-year-old told the BBC she was waiting for a bus in Derby on 22 September when Daniel Oakes groped her.

Unhappy with a security guard's response, she took photos of Oakes.

Officers initially told her the case would be closed due to a lack of evidence, but later reopened it after she contacted the media.

Oakes has now been jailed.

Describing the assault at Derby Bus Station, the woman - from the city - said the 19-year-old came over and was sitting next to her when she felt a "brushing feeling".

When she looked, she saw Oakes was groping her.

'How can I get help?'

"The whole thing was horrible," she said.

"I suffer from anxiety and depression anyway and when it happened, I froze before I did anything."

The woman said she then approached a security guard at Derby Bus Station, but instead of calling the police, he told her he would "keep an eye on him".

She said she then decided to confront Oakes.

"In my head, I was thinking 'how can I get help?'

"That's when I thought to take pictures for the police," she said.

The woman said the same security guard then threatened to remove her from the station for causing a scene.

"The reason I caused a scene was to make sure the guy who did this know this wasn't right," she said.

The assault occurred inside Derby Bus Station

She said police then visited her and told her the case would be closed due to a lack of evidence.

The woman said she was "shocked" as she had pictures of Oakes, who was wearing an electronic tag around his ankle.

"I couldn't believe it really," she said.

"I said they could do more... not only did I have pictures of him but he was on tag. I said to them he must be on your system. It felt like they were sweeping it under the rug."

The woman said she was then told to email her pictures to officers but did not hear anything back.

She then decided to contact her local newspaper.

'Angry and frustrated'

"The reason I went to the paper was if the police weren't going to do anything, I wanted to do something from an awareness point of view," she said.

"They didn't even put a police appeal out with my pictures until the Derby Telegraph got involved."

Derbyshire Police eventually released an image of Oakes, and the officer who fitted his tag came forward to identify him.

On 6 October, Oakes, of Bass Street, Derby, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was jailed for 26 weeks at Chesterfield Magistrates' Court.

Reflecting on her experience, the woman said: "Looking back, there were so many people around me who didn't intervene or help me.

"I was angry, frustrated and upset at the police... what's the point in reporting something when they didn't do enough despite the pictures I had?

"I'm sure if I didn't take pictures and push for this, he'd still be out there."

Derbyshire Police said it was reviewing how it handled the case and apologised to the victim

A police spokesperson said: "An allegation of sexual assault was reported to have taken place at Derby Bus Station on 22 September.

"An officer, after being allocated and reviewing the information available, including images taken by the victim, had put forward the case to be filed due to there not being enough evidence to pursue.

"All crimes, before they are filed, must be reviewed by a sergeant, however, this had not yet taken place in this instance. The crime had therefore not been filed at that point. Once a review of the information took place, including the photos, it was deemed that the images were of good enough quality for an identification to be made.

"There are clear processes in place for how crimes are filed - and a sergeant review is an important part of the oversight of the cases.

"A review into the initial investigation of the incident is ongoing by the officer's line manager who will assess if further advice or support is required.

"We are sorry that the service this victim received did not meet the level that she, or we, would expect and a review into the circumstances of the initial investigation are ongoing."

A spokesperson for Derby City Council, which owns the bus station, said: "We are aware of the incident... and have co-operated with Derbyshire police as part of their investigation."