https://pritchardcriteria.uk/

💬 A Personal Statement from the Wife of a Survivor

My name is Maria,   and I’m writing this as the wife of a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

For four years, as a child Simon was sexually abused by Patrick Lowe—a man in a position of power and trust, His former Boxing Coach. Decades later, when Simon finally found the strength to report what happened to him, we believed the justice system would hear him and take action.

Instead, we were met with a process that offered no real justice and no protection.

Patrick Lowe was recently diagnosed with dementia and ruled unfit to stand trial. The trial should have taken place in November 2024 however at the very last moment this was cancelled and Simon had to fight to get what is known as a Fact Finding Trial. 
The court held a “trial of the facts” in May 2025 to determine whether the abuse had occurred. The court and a jury of 12 people found that Patrick Lowe had committed the acts Simon described—but because he was considered mentally unfit, there could be no full trial , so no conviction, and no sentence. 

The only outcome was that he was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years. That’s it.

No restrictions. No monitoring. No sentence. No safeguarding.

Even more distressing is that Patrick Lowe already had a previous conviction for the continuous sexual assaults over several years of a young girl until she reached the age of thirteen. 

Despite that history— he was never placed on remand and we feel he was able to evade justice…..despite the court’s finding that he had committed sexual abuse against Simon as a child—he was not placed in a secure facility. He is allowed to live freely, with as far as we are aware with no restrictions on who he can interact with, even in settings with vulnerable individuals.

Simon has been left devastated. He did the most courageous thing a survivor can do: he told the truth. But instead of receiving justice, he was told his suffering couldn’t be fully recognised because his abuser had grown old and ill.

We are not asking for retribution. We are asking for a system that works—for survivors, for the public, and for justice.

We believe in compassion for illness, yes—but not at the cost of silencing victims and ignoring the safeguarding  of communities. 

 The  current Law used to test capacity  is https://pritchardcriteria.uk/ this law  is from 1836, and although there have been more recent amendments, we feel that this needs to be updated to include dementia, at the moment the law is currently failing survivors. 

We are calling for:

•Early cognitive assessments to take place once a defendant has been charged, and regular assessments until the trial takes place. 

•Secure care home options which could be used for offenders waiting on remand, with mandatory access restrictions for those found to have committed sexual abuse, we feel this would be a suitable way to punish offenders who are not suitable to be sentenced to Prison. 

•A statutory framework that recognises trial of the facts as a serious determination with consequences.

•Mandatory safeguarding protocols when someone has a past conviction and is found to have committed further abuse.

•Survivors need to be placed at the heart of the process—not as an afterthought.

Simon did his part. He spoke up—not just for himself, but for others who may never feel safe enough to. Now we ask the criminal justice system to do its part, too.

Please sign and share this petition. Help us demand change.

We need 10,000 signatures to bring this before the government and to get a response from them,  so please help us reach our goal. 

With many thanks for all your support 

Maria