Sex crime suspects ‘should not be named’, says mother of acquitted 21-year-old

Mother-of-seven Geraldine Woodman has put a petition on the change.org website after her serviceman son was cleared last week of two counts of sexual assault at Hull Crown Court.

Her son faced the allegations after giving the teenage girl a lift in 2014, and she then accused him of kissing her cheek and touching her thigh.

At the time he was stationed abroad and had to fly home four or five times to answer bail and for ten-minute court appearances, before being cleared by a unanimous verdict by a jury.

During the hearing the 21-year-old’s barrister Stephen Littlewood suggested that the complainant could be a “bit of a drama queen.”

Mr Littlewood said the girl had a boyfriend who was easily made jealous and she had made the complaint because she feared what he would say about being given a lift home by another man.

But Mrs Woodman said while her anonymity had been preserved, her son’s name had been dragged through the mud.

Mrs Woodman, who is hoping to raise the matter with the town’s MP Greg Knight this week, said she was not disrespecting “real victims”: “Mud sticks - people always think there’s no smoke without fire. With sex crimes there’s always a massive stigma.

“All I want is fairness. Both accused and victim should remain anonymous until he or she is found guilty - they shouldn’t have their face and name splashed all over the newspaper.

“No one outside our immediate family even knew about the case until it was in the paper. My son is devastated. Only three weeks ago it happened to another young lad and his name was plastered all over the front page and he was found not guilty too.”

More than 200 people have signed the petition. One said: “Too many good men are suffering and having their names dragged through the dirt due to girls/women using excuses of rape to get out of a situation they regret.”