A British woman who was gang raped by two men while on holiday in Crete has been forced to return to Greece for a second trial, despite her two attackers previously receiving life sentences for their horrific crimes.
The woman, who had just turned 18 at the time of the assault in June 2022, had been holidaying with friends in the city of Rethymno after finishing her A-Levels.
As she was sitting on a sunbed following a night out, she was grabbed and dragged away by two strangers, who then took it in turns to rape her.
The men, understood to have been Pakistani nationals who were in their 20s at the time, were apprehended by Greek authorities a few hours after the horrific attack.
The two men confessed to the gang-rape at the time of their arrest, but during their court appearance a year later, reportedly claimed that the woman had consented.
At their trial a year later, the young woman is said to have been forced to stand just metres away from her attackers as she gave evidence.
The harrowing case ended with the men being jailed for life – or so the woman’s family thought, as they looked forward to moving on from the ordeal.
But shockingly, the men took advantage of a Greek law which allows defendants to lodge an appeal within a certain timeframe, giving them an automatic right to a full retrial with a fresh examination of witnesses and evidence.
The two men, aged 27 and 24, raped the Briton, who has not been named, on a beach in Rethymno (pictured in a file image), a city on the north coast of Crete, in July 2022
This has given the young woman no choice but to return to Greece to be put through the horrific trial process all over again in March, with her mother saying the experience will likely re-traumatise her.
The first trial already cost the family significantly, her mother said, with a CrowdJustice fundraiser being launched to help support them financially as they return to Crete to secure justice.
Using the name Hannah to protect her anonymity, the woman’s mother described the years-long ordeal her daughter, who she named as Olivia, had been through.
Writing on the page, Hannah told how her teenage daughter ‘was dragged away from a sunbed on the beach by two complete strangers, who took it in turns to rape her.’
Thankfully, she said, they were caught soon after, and the case went to trial a year later.
‘At great expense to ourselves, we attended the harrowing court case in Crete,’ the mother said.
‘In court my daughter bravely gave evidence against her rapists, despite having to stand metres away from them throughout the duration of trial.
‘We had to return home before the end of the trial due to a lack of funds, so were unable to be there for the verdict.
‘However, justice was achieved, and her perpetrators were both found guilty and convicted. They each received a life sentence for the brutal attack against my daughter,’ she went on.
‘We presumed we could then, as a family, move on and start to heal.’
File image shows Hellenic Police car on patrol on the Greek mainland
The mother explained why she had launched the fundraiser, writing that they ‘have been suffering with the cost-of-living crisis, have no savings, and are still paying off our previous debt from the first court case.’
Launching the fundraiser, she added that they hoped to raise as much as possible to get the best legal support possible, with victims in Greece often only meeting their lawyer on the day of trial.
Whilst legal aid is available to victims in Greece, it is difficult to obtain in practice, particularly for foreigners.
They are now faced with another expensive trial, with the woman potentially being penalised by the court if she does not attend.
The fundraiser has so far managed to raise some £6,000 and the woman has secured a trusted Greek lawyer, according to her mother, with preparations now said to be underway for her to return to Crete for the trial.
Law firm Shaw Graham Kersh LLP, which has assisted the woman with finding a suitable lawyer in Greece, and Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ), which has supported the campaign, have been contacted for comment.
The 2023 trial came shortly after another alleged rape of another British woman in Rethymno, with two 19-year-old British men accused of the attack later being allowed to return to the UK.
Last year, another British woman who claimed she was raped by a bartender while on holiday in Greece won a complaint against the country’s authorities at the European Court of Human Rights.
The woman, who was aged 18 at the time of the alleged incident in 2019, said she met the man in the seaside town of Parga before the attack. He claimed she had consented to having sex.
Judges in Strasbourg said there were ‘significant shortcomings’ in the case.
They found that Greek authorities had breached articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights because there had not been an effective investigation into the allegations and the ‘criminal proceedings had fallen short of the required standards’.
