This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A rape complainant has hit out at one of Britain’s largest police forces, saying she felt “disgusted” at being asked to pay up to £150 to have her possessions returned after they were forensically examined.

Greater Manchester police (GMP) refused to post the belongings to the woman, instead suggesting she travel by train to collect them or arrange a courier delivery, and even asking whether she could buy new items instead, she claimed.

The alleged rape happened in Manchester, more than a two-hour train journey from her home in Newcastle.

“I just feel incredibly let down from start to finish. The whole [process] has felt like a complete violation,” she said.

The woman, a consultant in her 20s, left her job after the incident because she was having sleepless nights and feeling unable to get out of bed in the morning. She said that when she was asked to pay for a courier she gave up hope on getting her items back.

“It seems insignificant – it was just a bunch of clothes – but it was just one more thing I’d lost on that night, when the guy got away with everything.”

A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of rape, but no further action was taken after a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.

GMP denied having a policy of charging rape claimants for the return of their belongings, but admitted: “Victims are able to arrange their own courier and the costs would be met by themselves.”

The force has referred the incident to its professional standards branch, which deals with complaints. It has offered to pay for the return of the belongings and apologised for her treatment.

The Labour MP Jess Phillips, a member of the influential women and equalities select committee, described the case as appalling and inhumane.

“This is just another case where cutbacks in police funding are being laid at the door of the most vulnerable,” she said.

“When the police can’t afford to do quite a basic and routine thing like send things in the post, it has a human consequence – in this case, that an alleged rape victim could have been left out of pocket for doing the right thing,” she said.

Last year, analysis by the Guardian showed that less than a third of young men are convicted on rape charges, while other research suggests most rapes are not reported, and that less than half of cases taken to court end in conviction.

The woman said she spoke out about her ordeal because it might help future complainants who were in a worse position than her.

However, she said, it had dragged out the episode, which happened in September, and the apology was “too little, too late”.

She said she now understood why so few women reported rape.

“I’ve always had complete faith in the police. After this, if anything was to ever happen to me again, I would never, ever report it,” she said.

A GMP spokesperson said: “GMP does not have a policy in place whereby victims of rape are charged to have their items returned to them.

“In line with current policy, items are safely returned to the victim at their request. Any costs incurred are paid for by GMP where applicable. It is not force policy to use courier services for this. However, victims are able to arrange their own courier and the costs would be met by themselves.”

They said an officer had spoken to the woman about the issue.

“We hope this does not affect people’s confidence in our commitment to handling these types of offences and we are dedicated to ensuring this never happens again.”