Againstthewind
Victory
- Jul 10, 2022
- 230
A senior coroner has expressed deep concern over the way police and mental health services dealt with the case of a vulnerable woman who fell from a railway bridge four months after reporting she had been raped.
Tamsin Dolamore, a 24-year-old carer, was found on the tracks near a railway station in Cornwall and died in hospital the following day having sustained head injuries and had a cardiac arrest.
During an inquest in Truro, it emerged there was a delay in appointing a sexual offences liaison officer to her case, and a shortage of detectives to investigate sexual attacks.
Though her GP had said her world had been "turned upside down" by the rape, she was not seen by mental health services and was told she would have to wait five or six months for help from charities that help survivors, because of pressure on their resources.
Andrew Cox, the senior coroner for Cornwall, said: "It is striking the extent to which she was left to deal with matters on her own. Rape has to be one of the most traumatic of crimes. Its survivors require and deserve immediate support and assistance. When she most needed it, Tamsin did not receive it. As a society we need to do better than this."
Dolamore was described in court by her family as "kind and caring" but lacking in self-confidence, too trusting and a poor judge of character. She had been sexually assaulted as a schoolgirl and in the autumn of 2017 she reported to police that she had been raped, though she did not tell her family about either attack and they only found out after her death.
On the night of 8 January 2018, she left the home of a friend, after an argument and went to the bridge. He followed and dialled 999 when he saw her body on the tracks, telling the call handler: "I think she's just jumped off the bridge."
The inquest heard that a police investigator had been appointed to Dolamore's case at the end of September 2017. It had been intended that a sexual offences liaison officer would be allocated at the same time but this did not happen until a month later.
Though Dolamore's GP was concerned about her mental health, neither of the two organisations she was directed towards helped her. The first thought she presented with "too much risk for them", while the community mental health team did not take her on.
It was revealed during the inquest that when the 999 call was made, it was wrongly categorised, which led to a delay of up to 27 minutes in reaching Dolamore – though the inquest was told her injuries were so serious that she could not have survived.
The coroner gave an open conclusion and said he would propose writing to the police about their staffing, and to the government on the issue of support for victims of sexual assaults.
[even with all the finger pointing at websites, vendors, for questionable substances and drugs, the core services in the country continue to fail the people of the country]
www.theguardian.com
Tamsin Dolamore, a 24-year-old carer, was found on the tracks near a railway station in Cornwall and died in hospital the following day having sustained head injuries and had a cardiac arrest.
During an inquest in Truro, it emerged there was a delay in appointing a sexual offences liaison officer to her case, and a shortage of detectives to investigate sexual attacks.
Though her GP had said her world had been "turned upside down" by the rape, she was not seen by mental health services and was told she would have to wait five or six months for help from charities that help survivors, because of pressure on their resources.
Andrew Cox, the senior coroner for Cornwall, said: "It is striking the extent to which she was left to deal with matters on her own. Rape has to be one of the most traumatic of crimes. Its survivors require and deserve immediate support and assistance. When she most needed it, Tamsin did not receive it. As a society we need to do better than this."
Dolamore was described in court by her family as "kind and caring" but lacking in self-confidence, too trusting and a poor judge of character. She had been sexually assaulted as a schoolgirl and in the autumn of 2017 she reported to police that she had been raped, though she did not tell her family about either attack and they only found out after her death.
On the night of 8 January 2018, she left the home of a friend, after an argument and went to the bridge. He followed and dialled 999 when he saw her body on the tracks, telling the call handler: "I think she's just jumped off the bridge."
The inquest heard that a police investigator had been appointed to Dolamore's case at the end of September 2017. It had been intended that a sexual offences liaison officer would be allocated at the same time but this did not happen until a month later.
Though Dolamore's GP was concerned about her mental health, neither of the two organisations she was directed towards helped her. The first thought she presented with "too much risk for them", while the community mental health team did not take her on.
It was revealed during the inquest that when the 999 call was made, it was wrongly categorised, which led to a delay of up to 27 minutes in reaching Dolamore – though the inquest was told her injuries were so serious that she could not have survived.
The coroner gave an open conclusion and said he would propose writing to the police about their staffing, and to the government on the issue of support for victims of sexual assaults.
[even with all the finger pointing at websites, vendors, for questionable substances and drugs, the core services in the country continue to fail the people of the country]
Woman in Cornwall died four months after reporting rape, inquest hears
Coroner raises concerns over police and mental health services’ response to case of Tamsin Dolamore
