Grieving mother claims Oxford graduate daughter took her own life after police refused to investigate alleged childhood sex abuse

A mother claimed today her daughter was pushed to suicide after police refused to reopen an investigation into sexual abuse she suffered as a child.
Oxford graduate Dr Suzanne Dow, 33, took an overdose of prescription medication in October 2011, at her home in Nottingham.
An inquest later found her 'neighbours from hell' and a failed love affair had only partially contributed to the gifted academic's despair and a narrative verdict was recorded.

Narrative verdict: Suzanne Dow who took an overdose of prescription medication in October 2011

But her mother, Maureen Dow, 65, claimed her daughter killed herself because the man who abused her, aged ten, had gone unpunished.
Dr Dow's abuser admitted what he had done to Suffolk Police in 1991 but because she was so young her mother decided she didn't want her to give evidence in court.
That meant that the matter could only be dealt with by way of a caution and Dr Dow had spent the rest of her life haunted by the knowledge her attacker was still free.

But when the bright young doctor finally plucked up the courage to pursue her abuser she was told by police that the case was closed.
And Suffolk Police said there was no way to reopen the matter because all the original paperwork had been destroyed - as was force policy at the time.
Six months later Dr Dow committed suicide, leaving her heartbroken mother to dwell on the prospect that her abuser may never be brought to justice.

Suzanne Dow's former house in Nottingham, which was next door to a drugs den

Mrs Dow today said she had chosen to break her silence after learning Suffolk Police revealed had handed out 87 cautions in five years for serious sex attacks.
The grieving mother, from Colchester, Essex, has demanded no other victims should endure the heartache she and her daughter had been left to suffer.
She said: 'I think children should be protected. People need to be protected and they need to be aware.
'The damage this causes to children lasts a lifetime. If he was given a caution what would have stopped him abusing other children?
'It was never publicly acknowledged he was a danger. As the press have said now, it is only when you make these things public that more victims come forwards.'
An inquest in Nottingham held earlier this year concluded Dr Dow had in part been driven to her suicide by troublesome neighbours, as part of a narrative verdict.

'I just want people to understand what she went through and how the abuse affected her life.'

Suzanne's mother

The inquests heard that she lived in fear, was unable to sleep, witnessed drug deals on her doorstep and found hypodermic needles by her home.
But despite her daughter's torment Mrs Dow revealed it was the torment of her sexual abuse, which had been the underlying problem.
She added: 'It always came back to the abuse. We as a family, believed it was the sexual abuse that caused Suzie's death. It affected her life.
'Her fragility was based on the sex abuse. It just never went away fro Suzanne. She was just a totally innocent child and it ruined her childhood.
'I just want people to understand what she went through and how the abuse affected her life. I cry every day for Suzie. She's my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night.'
Suffolk Police had got rid of archived material and taped recordings of the police interview because it was not their policy to keep it on file once they had issued a caution.
A force spokesman said: 'We can confirm that in April 2011, Suffolk Police contacted the mother of a victim who had claimed that a man had been arrested and cautioned in connection with a crime alleged to have taken place in the 1980s.
'We can also confirm that this approach to the mother was prompted by a call from Nottinghamshire Police to Suffolk Police the same month asking Suffolk to investigate.
'Following extensive enquiries, including searching archives and taped interview records held by Suffolk, it was found that the relevant documentation relating to the initial investigation did not exist.
'It appears this would have been destroyed in accordance with policies regarding cautions that were in place at the time of the original inquiry.'
He added: 'Suffolk Police takes reports of sexual offences extremely seriously and they are all investigated.
'The sexual offences recording category includes a wide range of offences, ranging from the lower level to the more serious, such as a stranger rape.
'The circumstances in which a caution may be an appropriate outcome may be an inter-familial case, incidents where both the offender and the victim are young children, or consensual sexual activity between those who are underage.
'However, as with any reported crime the concerns of the victim are always at the forefront of our policing and any investigations that are concluded with a caution are only done so after careful consideration and if it is felt appropriate for all parties concerned.
'While policies were previously in place where records in relation to cases concluded with cautions were destroyed after three years, new guidelines mean that information is now retained by police.'

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