Student falsely accused of raping woman changed his identity to start new life abroad



Free: Peter Bacon, pictured with a friend, leaving court after his acquittal in March

Falsely accused of raping a lawyer after a drunken one-night stand, Peter Bacon thought his torment was over when a jury took just 45 minutes to clear him.

But seven months after he walked free, the 26-year-old claims he has been forced to change his identity and, despite his acquittal, says he still feels he is being punished.

He says the fact he was not given anonymity by the courts means his name continues to be linked to a crime that never happened.

However, his accuser - who admitted in court she was 'a recreational binge drinker' - was automatically granted lifelong anonymity as an alleged rape victim.

A student at the time he was charged, the former Mr Bacon decided to change his name by deed poll before he graduated, so his previous identity would not appear on his degree certificate.

After changing the name on his passport, National Insurance and social networking websites, he now plans to leave the country to start a new life.

Explaining his decision to change his name before leaving Canterbury University in June, he said: 'If I didn't do it before graduating then I couldn't do it because I wouldn't be able to use my degree certificate without having to explain why I changed my name.'

He added that he did not attend the graduation ceremony in order to avoid 'a whole load of awkward questions'.



He gained a second class degree in sociology.

The former chef was charged with raping a woman following a night of heavy drinking in February last year, but jurors returned a unanimous not guilty verdict at Winchester Crown Court in March.

During the trial it was claimed the woman was so drunk she was incapable of giving consent to sex and he took advantage of this.

The defendant told the court that the woman, 45, whose identity was never revealed for legal reasons, had encouraged him and had consented to sex.

Describing his change of identity, he told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'I've changed my passport, I've changed my taxes, my National Insurance, my NHS records - everything basically. I've done Hotmail and Facebook.

'It is strange seeing a new name I suppose, but I've had a few months now to get used to it. [But] I still haven't got used to it in a social sense because none of my friends call me by my new name.'

Mr Bacon said despite being acquitted, having his name connected to the incident was 'nightmarish'.

He added: 'It doesn't matter, really, what the outcome was, it's the fact that you've been connected to it.'

Asked if he felt like an innocent man, he replied: 'Yeah, but punished all the same. It just seems to be that a load of doors are closed to me because of this, even though I've done nothing wrong.'

After he was acquitted, Mr Bacon's solicitor said: 'This case seriously calls into question the lack of anonymity for people like Peter who have been wrongfully accused of rape, and who are ultimately acquitted.'

The woman's claims that she could remember nothing of her alleged rape also raised questions about why the Crown Prosecution Service decided to continue with the case, at an estimated cost of £90,000 to the taxpayer.

The woman said she found Mr Bacon in her bed one morning with no memory of what had happened.