DETECTIVE Inspector Nigel Wenham in the public protection unit (PPU) deals with cases of rape and abuse within the family.

What does your team do?

“The PPU deal with all the all aspects of abuse committed within the family environment, including child abuse, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

“We have specialist officers from the Child Abuse Investigation Team who work closely with a wide range of agencies and professionals such as local authority social care, schools, health and probation.

"All agencies work to a common standard of policies and procedures in order to safegaurd and protect children.”

How difficult is it to prove familial rape?

“Anyone subjected to physical, sexual or emotional abuse shouldn’t have to live within that relationship and should be able to take positive actions and decisions to do something about it. They should be reassured that there are a wide range of people who can help and provide support.

“Following any allegation or rape or sexual abuse we work with other agencies to secure evidence, support the victim and hold the offender accountable."

If there is insufficient evidence to prosecute what measures can be put in place to stop it happening again?

“We work with other agencies to manage the risk and protect the victim by putting relevant protective measures in place, whether that is re-housing or extra security measures such as lighting, personal attack alarms or creating a safe room within the home with a lock, bolt and a phone so they can call the police.

"Adult victims of domestic rape or sexual violence would be referred to support services such as the Rape and Sexual Assault Support Centre (RASASC) and an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) – they are an absolute crucial service for survivors of abuse and those at risk of domestic abuse in Warrington.”

What work is being carried out to protect domestic violence victims in Warrington?

“In April 2008, we set up a MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference). It is designed to provide protective measures and risk assess high risk victims of domestic abuse, such as those subject to sexual offences and rape or physical or emotional abuse to prevent people in violent relationships from becoming victims of domestic homicide.

“I chair the group and we meet once a month to identify current high risk victims, look at what protective measures are already in place and what can be done to continue or improve that protection."

How often do you see historical rape?

“We frequently get reports of historical abuse that happened 10, 20 or 30 years ago. We can receive several reports a month.

“Anyone who commits sexual abuse should be held accountable. He or she may now be in another relationship and abusing someone else, so anyone subjected to abuse should consider reporting it.”

What evidence will you look at?

“It depends on the circumstances. For example, someone could report being abused by their father or grandfather 10 years ago. If the evidence is just them saying I was abused on three occasions it will be very difficult to present that to a court because of the time lapse.

“But if they told someone at that time about the abuse, or sought medical attention relevant to the abuse or have some written documentation, then these would be corroborative evidence to support the allegation.

“Historical abuse is challenging to investigate due to the time factors, however we do frequently get convictions for it – last year we investigated several cases that resulted in offenders being convicted for offences committed many years previously.

"It takes a great deal of strength and courage for the victims to come forward and deal with the criminal justice process."

Would you call on siblings as witnesses and what protection can they expect?

“We would work with Children Social Care and other agencies to look at a strategy to speak to those children and identify if they have information that could assist in the investigation or if are they victims themselves.

“Then we would interview the child by video and secure their evidence - we work within the rules of achieving best evidence from vulnerable witnesses and this allows them special measures at court.”

What advice can you give to victims to help improve conviction rates?

“Anyone subject to any form of sexual assault should consider reporting it to the police as soon as possible and be aware of the opportunities we would be seeking to secure forensic evidence.

“The first thing you will be told if you contact us is don’t bathe, wash or dispose of your clothing because they all offer potential forensic evidence.

“There are support services out there even if we are unable to secure a criminal prosecution to help the person recover from the ordeal and to move on.”

Have you a message to victims of familial rape?

“Nobody should be in a relationship where they are subject to any form of abuse and they should be able to report that in confidence.

“There are professionals available, not just through the police but also through other agencies to support them and help them through.”

What happens when a victim withdraws their complaint in a familial case?

“It would depend if the accused had already been charged. If a victim refuses to go to court, depending on the seriousness of the incident, we can summons them to court but we would have to make an assessment with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

“My primary concern is always protecting the public as well as the victim.

“We are having success in securing charges relating to domestic abuse cases where the victim refuses to make a complaint or subsequently withdraws their complaint.

"We look at all opportunties to secure evidence without necessarily being provided directly by the victim.”

Has there been a drop in recent years in sexual offending?

“We would like to see over time a reduction in the number of repeat victims of domestic abuse through the MARAC.

“You would like to think that level of agency intervention will make a difference to people’s lives and stop them from being subject to repeat offences of abuse and tragically becoming a murder victim.

“There are always going to be cases where no matter what we do we can’t stop it because sometimes we haven’t any statutory power so can’t do anything further because the victim wants to maintain the relationship, and that is so frustrating.

“It’s only when there are children involved that we can actually do more because if the children are being exposed to domestic and emotional abuse then as agencies we can intervene.”