Thanks for starting a discussion about this dreadful case GrannyTwice. I haven't read today's papers, or your thread but I did hear discussion about it on the radio yesterday. I share the views expressed by GT about the way the case was mishandled and the fact some of the detectives involved were allowed to resign, rather than face the disciplinary action they ought to have.
The HRA is of course relevant to what happened here, but so is the determination of the victim's mother, the victim's persistence and her lawyers support. Polarised left - v - right polemics detract from the significance of what happened here, which is that a young woman was raped and her allegation dismissed by the detectives, presumably because she fitted their prejudiced view of "trouble". I was also shocked that the force involved saw £20,000 as a suitable amount of compensation. Compare that to the huge amounts of compensation given to 'celebrities" whose phones were hacked (not defending phone hacking by the way)
Jingle, I know you didn't like The Detectives, the documentary about Greater Manchester Police services Serious Sexual Offences unit, because you said so on the thread where it was discussed. Most other posters commented positively about the detectives shown doing their difficult job and also about the fact it showed the processes and legal constraints within which they work. I wonder if you'd see these officers as "thick" (your post 22.05.15. 17.13) because they did have northern accents and didn't fit the newly qualified graduate so many feel make better police officers.