Two police officers from one of France’s elite units have been sent to jail for seven years for the gang rape of a Canadian tourist, reports The Guardian.
The officers took Emily Spanton back to their headquarters at 36 Quai des Orfèvres after an alcohol-fuelled evening at an Irish bar in April 2014.
Once in their fifth floor office, Spanton, 39, said their attitude completely changed. She said she was made to drink a glass of whisky before being forced to perform oral sex. She said she was raped several times afterwards.
Spanton, who admitted she was very drunk, left the building about 80 minutes later. She was in tears, had lost her tights and was carrying her shoes. She said she told an officer at the entrance to the police headquarters “they raped me” in French and in English.
The officers, Antoine Quirin, 40, and Nicolas Redouane, 49, both members of the prestigious anti-gang Brigade de Recherche et d’Intervention at the time, were not named during the three-week hearing under a French law protecting those working in sensitive police jobs.
They had denied the accusations, claiming Spanton had consented to sex. Police found they had destroyed vital evidence including photographs and videos taken on the night. Quirin initially denied any sexual contact with the victim, but changed his story after his DNA was found on her underwear.
The officers also alleged that Spanton, who is the daughter of a police officer, had initially said she was the victim of a “vol” (theft) not “viol” (rape).
Spanton’s lawyers complained during the hearing that it was as if she was on trial, after she was questioned about her clothing, drinking and sexual habits.