I received a call from this BBC production company researcher looking for potential candidates for a documentary following “young men” recently charged with rape through the judicial process with particular emphasis on the effect on them and their families of the stress of the allegation

 

Harvey Fox

Police Station Advice Coordinator

FREEMANS SOLICITORS

07973 259382 (24 Hours)

Secure email: harvey.fox@freemans.cjsm.net

 

From: Angela Byrne [mailto:angela@summerfilms.co.uk]
Sent: 03 July 2018 17:13
To: Harvey Fox <Harvey.Fox@freemanssolicitors.net>
Subject: BBC documentary research - false allegations of rape

 

Hi Harvey, 

 

Thank you again for speaking to me earlier. You’ve already been so incredibly helpful. As promised, here is a bit more information about who we are, what sort of documentary we hope to make and what we are looking for. 

 

I'm getting in touch from a TV production company called Summer Films. We are based in North London and make documentaries, mainly for the BBC and Channel 4. As mentioned, we are currently developing a documentary for BBC Three about men who have been falsely accused of rape and the effect it can have on their lives. Our intention is to produce a sensitive documentary that illustrates the devastating consequences false accusations can create. 

 

I have already spoken with several men who have been through this experience. In some cases it went all the way to trial. In others, it was thrown out by the CPS early on. Following these conversations, it has become clear to me that being falsely accused is a life-changing experience. 

 

So far, all of the men I have spoken to have already been acquitted or given an NFA. Whilst this has been really useful, and we hope to include these stories in the documentary, I would really love to speak to young men who are currently awaiting trial. I have no doubt that this will be an incredibly stressful time, but it could be so useful in terms of my research and potentially being able to tell this story. We want to be able to show the reality of living with a false accusation and the acute stress of awaiting trial. As you rightly pointed out, we wouldn’t be able to broadcast anything under after everything had been resolved. 

 

To give you some background on us, we specialise in sensitive access documentaries. Most recently we made Death on Campus: Our Stories for BBC Three, which explored the extremely sad issue of suicide at university. Other projects include Excluded at Seven for Channel 4 and One Night of Ecstasy for BBC Three. Our creative director, Lucy Hillman, made the Great Ormond Street series for the BBC. 

 

I've attached a letter here and if you ever did find yourself working with somebody awaiting trial, it would be wonderful if you would forward it to them. I completely understand that you wouldn’t be able to tell me any information about who they are or what happened in their case, and I will simply wait to see if they choose to get in touch.

 

Don't hesitate to call or email anytime - always happy to chat. And thank you again so much. 

 

Best wishes, 

 

Angela 

 

Angela Byrne, Director 

0207 424 7940 / +44 7798 726097

85-87 Bayham Street London NW1 0AG 

angela@summerfilms.co.uk/www.summerfilms.co.uk

Image removed by sender.

Summer Films specialise in factual content.



 

 

 

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