Jessie was just going about her usual morning routine in April 2021, getting ready for work, when her phone buzzed with a Facebook notification.
It was a message from a girl named Lauren—someone she had heard of but never actually met.
Curious, Jessie opened the message, but nothing could have prepared her for what she read.
Lauren revealed that she had dated Jessie’s ex-boyfriend and that during their relationship, he had raped her.
Not just once, but twice.
She confessed that it had taken her a long time to come to terms with it and hoped Jessie had never gone through anything similar.
But Jessie had. More times than she could count.
For years, she had buried the memories, convincing herself that they weren’t real.
But now, with Lauren’s message, the wall she had built to protect herself came crashing down.
And it wasn’t just the two of them—Lauren mentioned a third woman who had also suffered the same fate.
At that moment, Jessie knew she couldn’t stay silent. “It wasn’t just about me anymore,” she said.
“I had to do something for the women before me and the women after me.”
A Fight for Justice Begins
What followed was a long, painful, and exhausting journey—one that would later be documented in the BBC’s two-part series Rape on Trial, presented by Stacey Dooley.
The documentary follows Jessie and two other survivors as they battle the emotional and legal challenges of reporting rape to the police.
Filmed over three years, the series reveals the immense pressure placed on survivors, the uphill battle of securing a conviction, and the harsh truth about rape cases.
Statistics show that in England and Wales, 84% of reported sexual assaults involve someone the victim knows—not a stranger lurking in the dark, but often a partner, a friend, or even a loved one.
The Relationship That Hid a Dark Reality
Jessie was just a teenager when she met him. He was charming, affectionate, and easily won over her family. She believed she had found love.
But what she saw as romance, she now recognizes as manipulation.
“I thought I was in love,” she admitted. “Looking back, I had no idea what I was really dealing with.”
While their relationship had happy moments, there was another side to it—a sinister reality she struggled to process.
The abuse often happened in the early hours of the morning when Jessie was still asleep.
She would wake up to find him on top of her, his hands pressing her down.
“The first time, I begged him to stop. I asked why he was doing this. But he ignored me,” she recalled.
“And it just kept happening. It became almost ritualistic. Eventually, I just pretended to be asleep.”
At the time, she didn’t fully understand what was happening.
She clung to the good parts of the relationship, pushing down her fear and confusion. A year later, they broke up when she left for university.
But even in new relationships, she carried a lingering sense of fear and anxiety.
“I thought all young women felt this way,” she said. “But now I know—that was trauma.”
Confronting the Past
It wasn’t until a year after graduating that Lauren’s message forced Jessie to face the truth: she had been raped.
That very day, she met up with Lauren, and as they shared their stories, the similarities were chilling.
“She was telling my story,” Jessie recalled. “I had been in denial, but hearing her, I realized—he knew exactly what he was doing. You don’t rape someone by accident.”
Jessie then had to do something even harder—tell her mother, Michelle.
Watching her daughter’s transformation from a carefree young woman to a shadow of herself had already been heartbreaking.
Learning what had caused it was even worse.
“We let him into our home,” Michelle said. “We had barbecues.
Everyone liked him. I felt so betrayed.”
A Legal Battle That Felt Endless
Determined to seek justice, Jessie reported her ex-boyfriend to the police.
He was arrested and charged with three counts of rape—two involving Jessie and one from another victim who wished to remain anonymous.
Then came the waiting. And more waiting.
What should have been a swift legal process dragged on for four years.
The trial, originally scheduled for 2021, was delayed due to barrister strikes and rescheduled for November 2022
. In the meantime, Jessie lived in fear of running into her attacker—and she did.
“I saw him all the time—on nights out, at the pub.
Once, I even saw him doing construction near my house. I had to just turn and leave.”
When the trial finally began, Jessie endured brutal cross-examination. “I cried the whole way through,” she said.
“The defense barrister told me I was lying. That because I didn’t say ‘no’ loud enough, it meant ‘yes.’ Like I had nothing better to do than make this up.”
After four grueling days of jury deliberation, they couldn’t reach a verdict.
“That was worse than a ‘not guilty,’” Jessie admitted. “At least with that, I could have moved on.
But this? This left me stuck. I was a victim of the system now, too.”
A retrial was scheduled for June 2024. Then, it was delayed again—this time to January 2025.
“This process has stolen years of my life,” Jessie said. “I used to be confident and outgoing.
Now? I feel like a shell of myself. Even my mom says I’m not the same Jessie anymore. I just want to feel like me again.”
A Verdict That Shattered Their Hearts
In January 2025, Jessie, Lauren, and the third victim testified once again. This time, the jury reached a verdict: not guilty.
The moment was captured on camera for the documentary. Jessie was stunned into silence.
Lauren broke down in uncontrollable sobs.
“We were dragged through hell for years—for what?” Jessie asked.
“Three of us, who didn’t even know each other, told the same story. And still, it wasn’t enough.”
Their devastation reflects a grim reality. In England and Wales, more than 99% of reported rapes don’t result in a conviction.
Even Stacey Dooley, the presenter of the documentary, admitted she would hesitate to report a rape herself.
“I wouldn’t feel confident in the system,” she confessed. “It’s one of the only crimes where the victim is treated like the one on trial.”
No Regrets, Just Determination
Despite everything, Jessie doesn’t regret coming forward.
“I had to do it. Not just for me, but for all the women who have gone through this and stayed silent,” she said.
“I don’t know how we fix this broken system. But I know we have to try.”