A police force that admits negligently breaching the anonymity of an alleged victim of child sexual abuse has been accused of “victim shaming” after citing her subsequent public campaigning as reason for reduced compensation.
The identity of Heidi Clutterbuck, 53, was revealed in error to a witness by a West Mercia police detective in 2015 as the officer carried out an investigation into her claims of being abused by her late brother.
After years of legal wrangling at a cost to Clutterbuck of £193,000, the force formally admitted liability in court documents filed earlier this month, but police lawyers are arguing her decision to then go public about her experiences diminishes her claim for damages.
West Mercia police cite in support of their defence Clutterbuck’s decision to give evidence at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse established by Theresa May and to speak to media, including to the BBC.
The force claims: “In or about July 2017, the claimant participated in a victim and survivor seminar held as part of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), in the course of which the claimant disclosed her status as a survivor of child sexual abuse and shared her experiences of reporting the offence to the police.
“The claimant’s comments/account appear alongside her name in transcripts of the seminars on the IICSA website; the claimant has also shared her experiences and commentary on the issue on Twitter (since 2016), via a Facebook blog, on a BBC programme etc.
“The claimant’s decision to share her experiences (not long after the disclosure which is the subject of this claim, in much greater detail than in the disclosure and with the world at large rather than a single family member), while entirely within her rights and representing a valuable contribution to the public discourse, is nonetheless a highly material event which overtakes and supersedes the defendant’s breach of duty.”
Clutterbuck, a mother of five who lives in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, said she had been horrified to discover the officer’s error in revealing her identity after receiving a message on Facebook late at night, but that she would not have gone on to make the legal claim if an immediate apology had been offered.
She said: “I was so scared, and I was so scared [for] my young children, and it just was awful. It was a Saturday night, so there’s nothing I could do. Spent the whole night up crying. I was at the police station at first light … They were just really dismissive, and it just that’s when everything changed. I became the enemy of them. Well, you know, that’s my perception of it.
“I spent three and a half years going through the complaint system, being told at every step of the way, this is not a breach, this is not a breach, this is not a breach.”
Clutterbuck got legal representation in 2018 and her claim was made in 2021 but the formal admission of liability by West Mercia police was only recently made in an amended defence filed at court. She said her decision to speak about her abuse after the officer had revealed her identity was made in an attempt to get control of her situation.
She said: “To my mind, the only solution to that type of thing happening is to actually take control and say, I give up anonymity, and I am going to speak on this topic, and I am going to not have the shame that you give me. Still in the papers that have gone to the high court, they criticise me and use it as a way of downgrading their damage.
“This is why victims don’t challenge the police, because they have the public purse. It is appalling that they’re using public money to fight these cases where actually: you’ve admitted liability.”
Clutterbuck added: “Nobody else really has the right to know I’m a victim of sexual abuse unless I choose to tell them. And the very notion that the people that you trust and that actually are protecting you are the ones that breach that trust and place you in that position is appalling.”
Maria Mulla, a barrister who is working with victims of the late owner of Harrods Mohamed Al Fayed, is representing Clutterbuck. She said: “The decision to disclose or not is a colossal one for survivors of sexual abuse and in particular child sexual abuse.
“West Mercia police stole Heidi’s lifetime right to absolute anonymity, a right that is enshrined in legislation. Once this had been stolen from her Heidi had no choice but to be brave and take back control by advocating for others.”
West Mercia police declined a request for comment.
