'Rape claim has ruined my life' (From The Argus)

'Rape claim has ruined my life'

8:07am Wednesday 25th October 2006 in Search By Ali Cridland

A former nightclub manager claims his life has been ruined after he was falsely accused of rape.

Raymond Chan, 43, walked free from Lewes Crown Court after he was cleared of the sex attack by a jury. But he said his life would never be the same.

The father-of-four said he had lost his job, many of his friends, the business reputation he had spent years building and his family home in Ireland.

He said: "My life has been ruined. This has crippled me."

Mr Chan, former manager of The Gloucester nightclub in Brighton, spent seven months in custody after being charged with raping a 33-year-old nurse at a flat in the city in January last year.

The woman claimed she woke up after a drunken night out to find a stranger having sex with her. She told the jury she had no idea where she was or who the man was.

The prosecution accused Mr Chan of taking advantage of the woman, who, they said, was incapable of giving consent because she was so intoxicated.

But Mr Chan said she had sex with him willingly and had not behaved like she was drunk.

After a week-long trial the jury took less than 30 minutes to return a unanimous not guilty verdict.

Mr Chan said he broke down in the dock as the verdict was announced.

He said: "At first it didn't sink in. I choked. I got tearful. It was such a relief it was all over.

"I was actually afraid to walk out of the court on to the steps because I kept thinking somebody was going to stop me from leaving."

The court heard how the woman left a party in the early hours of the morning to return to her Brighton flat without taking her bag, purse, phone or door keys.

Mr Chan was driving by her flat when he saw her outside and offered to help. They drove back to his flat at the Gourmet Palace restaurant in St James's Street, where he was manager at the time, so she could contact a locksmith.

He said once they arrived they watched a DVD on the sofa and then began kissing. He said she willingly had sex with him twice before he called a taxi at about 6am to take her to a friend's house.

He said as far as he was concerned, it was a one-night stand and she was happy to have sex with him. He said: "I thought we had a fun night."

She later called the police claiming she had been raped.

Mr Chan was remanded in custody in March this year and sent to Lewes Prison. He said he had a hard time in jail and reluctantly agreed to go on the vulnerable prisoner wing after other inmates found out he had been charged with rape and threatened him.

He said: "When you are in prison you don't think about the other side of the wall because it will do your head in.

I was always confident that one day I would be cleared because I was innocent."

He believes what saved him from spending years in jail was CCTV footage of the inside of the restaurant, which showed the woman freely walking around.

He said: "The CCTV saved me. Without that I would still be behind bars."

Mr Chan, who was born in Malaysia and has lived in Brighton since 1974, believes the law should be changed so people accused of rape have the same anonymity as their accusers until conviction.

He said: "The effect on my family has hurt me more than spending time in prison.

The jury cannot take back that time.

"I've had it easy in prison compared to my family.

"I have been tainted and there is no two ways about it.

Even though I have been vindicated by the jury, because of the type of crime, people will always wonder.

"My nightmare is not over yet."