Gaia Pope: Teen felt police did not believe her rape claim, inquest told

A teenager, who went missing and later died of hypothermia near a clifftop, felt police did not believe her allegation of rape, an inquest heard.

Gaia Pope, 19, from Swanage, was urged by officers not to appeal their decision to release the man without charge, Dorset Coroner's Court heard.

Miss Pope later saw a Facebook post from Dorset Police that said the man had been jailed for other sex offences.

She was found dead in November 2017, 11 days after going missing.

The jury has previously been told Miss Pope said she had been raped as a 16-year-old, and was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Marienna Pope-Weidemann, pictured in 2018, said her cousin had not felt believed by police

The teenager's cousin, Marienna Pope-Weidemann, told jurors police informed her cousin they did not think there was "any chance" of a prosecution being successful.

Officers sought to dissuade her from pursuing the allegation further by telling Miss Pope the court process would be "very traumatic", she added.

Ms Pope-Weidemann said police also refused to offer the teenager any protection when the man she had accused attempted to get in contact.

She said the teenager had feelings of not being believed before she went missing, and described how the family was "terrified" by her disappearance.

"We'd been afraid for a long time that something like this might happen," Ms Pope-Weidemann told jurors.

'No police guidance'

The court heard the family began coordinating searches but were told by police to stop looking in rural areas, including the coastline close to where Miss Pope was eventually found.

Officers reassured them that "if she was there, we would have found her", the jury was told.

Days later, when Ms Pope's clothes were discovered in that area, Dorset Police offered to send officers to guide a large volunteer search operation - planned for the next day, but no officers came, the inquest heard.

"There were members of the public, the press, our MP but no police guidance," Ms Pope-Weidemann said.

The inquest continues.