In February 2016 we published a post about Mark Pearson, a talented modern artist. Whilst walking through Waterloo station he brushed briefly past a 60-something film actress, who later claimed he’d sexually assaulted her. Despite the lack of evidence against him, and CCTV footage which showed to any sane person that the alleged attack could not possibly have been carried out, charges were brought against him. It was one of the most vicious show trials of men brought by the CPS in recent years. The jury took little time to find him innocent of the charge.
Mark is made of strong stuff. Few who watched his talk, ‘Facing my Waterloo’ at ICMI16 – the video (39:11) is here – will forget it. We were all very moved.
Mark recently launched a £125,000 crowdfunder, Mark of Innocence, to raise funds to take legal actions against those responsible. It’s well worth watching the video and the whole of the description. The start of the description:
My name is Mark Pearson. In 2015 I was arrested after being falsely accused of an impossible sex crime at Waterloo Station in London. CCTV images clearly showed I was innocent. Unbelievably, I was charged, even though there was no evidence other than the false allegation against me, and I was put on trial last year. The jury took only 90 minutes to find me not guilty.
I now hold the police force who tried to frame me to account, and the Crown Prosecution Service who colluded with them. A successful IPCC complaint by Barnett Survivors Limited instigated a new investigation and this is helping to build a legal case against those responsible. Something has gone wrong with the way the police and the Crown Prosecution Service are assessing such allegations generally and it’s time somebody challenged them. My personal funds are limited though, so if you could contribute in any way I would be very grateful. But this isn’t just for me, it is for ALL victims of false allegations, whoever and wherever they are.
It then goes on to a statement by Erin Pizzey:
I am putting my heart and soul behind this campaign to raise funds for Mark to fight the CPS and the police. All of us can use this unique opportunity to stop the epidemic of false accusations that the CPS & police use to deny the human rights and fair treatment of those unjustly accused.
We urge you to donate what you can towards Mark’s crowdfunder. As Erin points out, this is a unique opportunity. Let’s not waste it. Thanks.
Justice for Men & Boys 
Done so. The case is against the institutions (Police and CPS) charged with making law effective. The growth in “Political” trials driven by the political ambitions of the CPS in particular (see the speed of Keir Starmer’s slide into Parliament and the Labour front bench) should be challenged in just such a way. I hope others will contribute. The expense inevitably prevents all but the most wealthy men (and women) taking action against public bodies. Typically those targeted for such show trials are not at all wealthy.
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I wonder if Cliff Richard might be interested in contributing ,surely he of all people would sympathise.
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It’s a shame he is not suing the lying cow that is 100% responsible for the whole charade and crime that was committed against him. He should definitely go after all those other people/groups, but her name should be the first on the list of villains who are to be sued!
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Well there have always been foolish, mad or malevolent people. The crux of this case, as with so many others, is that the police and CPS didn’t do their job. The former didn’t investigate the case so much as try to “fit up” a patsy to up their figures on sexual assault prosecutions. The woman didn’t identify this man rather the police went out to find a person to hang a crime on, as became evident when the Actress was questioned in court. The CPS didn’t look at the case objectively but compounded the “fit up”. No doubt to add to their “targets”.
The briefest investigation would have established the woman’s account was hopelessly confused and without any evidence. The police in particular are meant to investigate crime not invent evidence to fit any crackpots accusations.
In short the “Actress” was irresponsible, but the public can contain all sorts of daft or malevolent people. The police are 100% responsible for their “investigation” as are the CPS for taking this case to court. As he says this man faced the full power of “the Crown” in taking the flimsiest of complaints through to Crown Court.
In a just country she would be prosecuted for wasting Police time. Except they chose in this case to waste their own time.
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‘In a just country she would be prosecuted for wasting Police time.‘
The woman didn’t just waste police time; she made a specific false allegation against a man who from the available video evidence could not have been other than Mark Pearson and in a just country there would be a specific crime of making a false allegation of rape and or sexual assault, with the punishment at least equal to that for the falsely alleged crime.
I hope very much that those corrupt police officers and CPS officials who colluded to fabricate a case against Mr Pearson and so pervert the course of justice are eventually given custodial sentences and ruined for life, as he might well have been, and I also hope that the unnamed actress, whose identity is easily ascertainable on the web, is similarly punished and exposed to shame.
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Well said. Agree 100%!
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Wrong! The actress was not irresponsible. She was most definitely malevolent and hateful, to make such an idiotic and impossible allegation against an innocent man. Where is the evidence she mistook him for someone else just metres away?
There is none!
She picked him out, because on that day at that time she was pissed about men or feeling unloved and wanted attention or for one of the other ten million reasons criminally minded women make disgusting false allegations.
She should be publicly flogged for what she has done to this man and it should be alongside the police and CPS.
And the public flogging is obvious or do I need to spell that out?
I think that all these criminals should suffer the same public humiliation AND they should be locked up in prison for perverting the course of justice. But the first on the list should always be the bloody liar who started the ball rolling.
Stop making excuses for the initial criminal. Women will never be forced to take responsibility for their evil if people keep running out to defend them.
We all know that the police and CPS committed a great evil, but the greatest evil was committed by that appalling woman, who should be made to answer for her crime.
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As far as the CPS is concerned the answer is women. They opt to work there because of civil service reproductive rights – a criminal legal aid firm can’t afford to carry a maternity so tries to edge them out – and then come back working part time or flexibly, which actually means they are absolutely rigid in the hours they are prepared to work.
2-3 years ago there was something of a minor scandal when it was discovered the CPS had spent millions on severance payment but only made five compulsory redundancies. The reality is that since part timers are also legally protected, because, obviously, the majority are female, the severance packages had to be generous enough to attract them so they received far more than they merited.
And then of course, even legislation has failed as a means of reducing civil service redundancy entitlement which is why the cuts since 2010 have fallen on the Armed Forces(mainly men) and local government.
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I worked jointly for the NHS and Local Gov. for many years. The pay differentials were very marked indeed. Various “joint” schemes were scuppered or made difficult by the simple fact that typically NHS staff and mangers are paid 20% more than the similar jobs in Local Councils. With “Austerity” the contrasts were added to by the NHS requirements to make 1,2 or even 3% efficiencies while the Local council had to make 15% or latterly 30%. In a sense one can see the logic in trying to maintain the NHS but it was reflected in protecting all the civil servants in the DoH.
The cynic in me could see the political logic of transferring the “pain” to local councils who would get the flack but over the years it was clear the Gov. civil service Depts. felt little more than trimming. Certainly there was no attempt to bring down the grossly inflated salaries. I notice even many Tory councils have grown rebellious at the obvious miss-match.
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That’s right. I remember one initiative that collapsed amid bitter recriminations because the local authority involved refused (as was their right; pensions are specifically exempted from TUPE) to maintain pensions at the NHS level.
Regardless of their political colour governments exempt the NHS from substantial funding cuts, which is another reason the Armed Forces and local government took the strain; and of course, NHS Trusts can and do borrow freely while local authorities save and make do.
No local authority could live with the debt levels of an NHS Trust, but because of the years of austerity something will give and soon.
Down our way we are borrowing dustcarts, which is pretty grim. (Btw you could get a small house for the price of a dustcart and there’s a six month lead time on a new one)
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Donated.
The CPS and police need to learn to apply the law and stop playing politics.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-41228461 The Police it seems are far too busy with hate crimes etc. and unable to deal with crime even when given the evidence “on a plate”.
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I wish Mark Pearson the best of luck in this.
.. and I would be very interested to hear if Alison Saunders and the CPS will support him in view of their recent “virtue signalling” statement about male victims of abuse..
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‘ … and I would be very interested to hear if Alison Saunders and the CPS will support him … ‘
There are about fifteen weeks until Christmas: imagine you are a turkey.
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I’ve donated.
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Thanks Gruff. Great response so far.
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I heard Marks talk at the conference and I thought “There but for the grace of God go any of us”. The allegation seems to have been malicious so why is the false accuser not prosecuted?
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(a bit late seeing this) She is now back in Hollywood working. Why the hell anyone employs her is beyond me. Imagine been a fellow male actor and having to work in close proximity to her.
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The crazy woman needs to be named, shamed and charged.
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All these false accusations, and the way this case was handled by CPS and the police, bring to mind a quote:
“It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, ‘whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,’ and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.” – John Adams
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