Sara Never Wanted Jack to Be Punished ; Last Week a Cambridge Student Was Acquitted of a Drunken Sexual Assault -- And the Girl Who Accused Him Was Portrayed As Naive and Vengeful. Now One of Her Friends Tells Her Side of the Story: Why She Was Persuaded to Pursue the Case, but Never Wanted It to End This Way...

Mail on Sunday › March 09, 2008

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Summary

IT TOOK a jury just two-and-a-half hours to clear 23-year-old Cambridge University graduate Jack Gillett of sexually assaulting a fellow student after a night of drinking. She claimed that after they kissed he had repeatedly ignored her pleas to stop as he pulled off her clothes in his room and pinned her to the ground and groped her. But the judge questioned why the case had ever been brought to court.

Here a close friend gives a compelling insight into how the 22- year-old woman found herself in a judicial process she could not halt and the motives behind her reporting the case. For legal reasons she must remain anonymous - Sara is not her real name..

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Sara Never Wanted Jack to Be Punished ; Last Week a Cambridge Student Was Acquitted of a Drunken Sexual Assault -- And the Girl Who Accused Him Was Portrayed As Naive and Vengeful. Now One of Her Friends Tells Her Side of the Story: Why She Was Persuaded to Pursue the Case, but Never Wanted It to End This Way...

I WAS at Cambridge University myself and know most of those who gave evidence in court, so one of the most painful aspects of this story is that they are - or certainly were before the police got hold of this - all friends.

When I was first approached by journalists I refused to say anything, because Sara herself felt strongly that it was more dignified to remain silent.

But what seems lacking is an understanding of why there should be a court case at all. This case went to court because the police believed a crime had taken place. A crime necessarily has a ...

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