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+--- Thread: UK sleepwalking to cashless society + Prosecution of rape cases crashes (UK) (/thread-6821.html)
UK sleepwalking to cashless society + Prosecution of rape cases crashes (UK) - C C - Mar 6, 2019
Cashless society: UK cash system on ‘verge of collapse’ – and it’s the vulnerable who will pay (UK community)
https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/cashless-society-uk-cash-system-brink-collapse-vulnerable-pay/
INTRO: Elderly people, residents in rural areas and those struggling to manage debt would be among the most affected Government, regulators and banks must act now to prevent the UK from “sleepwalking” into a cashless society, resulting in millions of Britons being “left behind”, a report has warned.
As bank branches and ATMs continue to close, the cost of handling and accepting cash will lead increasing numbers of retailers to go cashless, according to the Access to Cash Review, published today, Wednesday. Approximately eight million British adults (17 per cent of the population) would be left adrift if the UK transitioned to a cashless society, it states. Elderly people, residents in rural communities with poor broadband and mobile connectivity and those struggling with debt for whom cash is easier to manage are the groups most likely to to be affected....
MORE: https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/cashless-society-uk-cash-system-brink-collapse-vulnerable-pay/
Rape cases to be reviewed by government after ‘alarming’ drop in prosecutions (UK community)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rape-cases-uk-prosecutions-prison-time-fall-government-review-disclosure-a8809236.html
EXCERPT: . . . Rachel Krys, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “Despite a huge increase in the numbers of women reporting rape to the police over the last five years, there has been an alarming recent collapse in the rate of cases being charged. “We are concerned that there has been a change in the way decisions are being made on whether to charge rape cases,” Ms Krys added.
A woman who was raped in London told The Independent she discontinued her report because police said she had to hand over her phone “so that all the details on it can be downloaded”. Prosecutors have insisted that phone downloads are not a requirement for rape prosecutions, but lawyers say demands have spread after last year’s scandal over collapsed rape cases.
Senior police officers have accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of “raising the bar” for the evidence needed, slowing down investigations and causing victims to drop out. The Information Commissioner is currently investigating “excessive and disproportionate” trawling of complainants’ phones and personal records.
Ann Coffey MP, who revealed “shockingly low” conviction rates for young men accused of rape last year, said a crisis was “engulfing the criminal justice system’s approach to rape”...
MORE: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/rape-cases-uk-prosecutions-prison-time-fall-government-review-disclosure-a8809236.html
RE: UK sleepwalking to cashless society + Prosecution of rape cases crashes (UK) - Syne - Mar 6, 2019
Crying wolf hurts real victims. You know, those willing to turn over their phone to keep their rapist from walking free.
The conviction rate is not "shockingly low" if the rate of false accusations is actually "shockingly high".