Cheshire Police apologise to victim of attempted rape
The perpetrator raped another woman in Warrington four years earlier
Cheshire Police have apologised to an attempted rape victim, who was attacked by the same man who raped another woman in Warrington three and a half years earlier.
Mariyan Grudev was jailed for life yesterday (6 February), and ordered to serve a minimum term of 14 years, for rape in 2019 and attempted rape in 2023.
Grudev was identified as a suspect after the offence in 2019, but left the country for his native Bulgaria.
Judge Flewitt KC said that steps should have been taken to get a European arrest warrant, or to arrest Grudev upon his return to the UK, as taking a DNA sample from him would likely have matched the victim he attacked in 2019.
The judge said that would have likely led to his arrest or being kept in custody, so he would not have been at liberty to attack his other victim in 2023.
Judge Flewitt KC said:
"That was a significant failure by those then responsible for the investigation.
"I hope a lesson has been learned from that oversight, so there is no such failure in any future investigation."
Cheshire Police Chief Inspector Robert McLoughlin said:
"Firstly, we would like to commend the bravery of the two victims in this case in coming forward and reporting what happened to them.
"We hope Grudev's sentence provides them with some sense of closure, with the knowledge he will be behind bars for a considerable length of time.
"There were missed opportunities"
"We recognise there were missed opportunities during the 2019 investigation and we have apologised to the victim for these.
"A full internal review has since been carried out, and while there was no misconduct, areas of organisational learning were identified and these have been undertaken.
"Throughout the process we have been in dialogue with the victims and our thoughts remain with them at this time."
Rebecca Beresford, independent sexual violence advisor service manager at RASA Merseyside, said:
"I just find it beyond disappointing the circumstances of this case. It's almost beyond words really - the fact that this is a known individual, he was being investigated and flagged by police, and yet was allowed to leave ethe country and then has come back with the intention of committing a second offence if not others, so that's clearly someone who is a predator and a danger and a risk to the public, who has been allowed to continue to offend essentially.
"I think it's a real testament to the individual who has come forward and had the strength to pursue that prosecution that we are able to learn about the failings of this case and I'm really pleased that the judge has rightly pointed out that the individual wouldn't have been at liberty to commit that further offence.
"I hope that the CPS and the police can learn from this case and take cases of this nature more seriously and act more promptly in future as well to prevent offenders who are a risk to the public from committing further offences."