The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating Dyfed-Powys Police’s handling of a four-year-old rape allegation which was not acted upon.

The woman reported the rape to Dyfed-Powys Police in April 2005 alleging that she was raped ten years earlier when she was a child.

The Western Telegraph understands the case is relevant to the Pembrokeshire area. Her allegations came to light when she appeared as a witness in a trial related to historic sexual abuse committed between 1996 and 2006. During the trial the defence questioned ‘Ms X’ about the previous allegation of rape she made in 2005.

She was unable to explain the outcome of this allegation and said she had not heard anything further after reporting the matter to police, but confirmed she had made a statement confirming the details of the allegation.

The court directed the prosecution to find out from the police the outcome of their investigation. The file relating to the allegation could not be located but officers’ statements meant the victim’s account and credibility was robustly challenged in court.

Further enquiries by police confirmed that Ms X’s recollection of events was correct and a file containing the original statements was located. The file also contained an allegation made by another victim against the suspect and this had not been recorded as a crime or investigated further.

IPCC Commissioner for Wales Tom Davies said: “Because of police failures this young woman was put through an unnecessary ordeal at a trial for which she appeared as a witness.

“But worse than that is the fact that having reported an allegation of rape the police did not properly investigate the allegations of two serious crimes. The intervening years will not have helped the evidence-gathering process.

“The public expect police to investigate those crimes reported to them, and for crimes of serious sexual assault to be given a priority.

“Rape is under-reported as a crime and we have to ensure the public, and especially women and young girls, can have confidence that when they do report rape that it is dealt with sensitively and thoroughly.”

He added: “The IPCC investigation is a criminal investigation and will seek to ensure that we find out what went wrong in this case. I have set terms of reference for this investigation that also include making any recommendations necessary to ensure that lessons are learned so that the public can have confidence that allegations are properly dealt with.”