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Former government adviser says sentence discounts could make convictions more difficult and stop victims coming forward A high-ranking former police officer who advised the government on rape for 10 years has said proposals to halve sentences for attackers who plead guilty will make it harder to convict rapists and could deter victims from coming forward. Dave Gee – who was recently commended by the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), Sir Hugh Orde, as the UK’s leading authority on rape investigation – said he felt “despair” when he heard Kenneth Clarke appear to suggest some rape cases were more serious than others , and accused the justice secretary of ignorance of the subject and the law. The former head of Derbyshire CID told the Guardian that Clarke’s plan to increase the discounted tariff for rape when assailants admitted guilt to 50%, alongside crimes like robbery and burglary, downplayed the severity of the offence, in turn inviting officers to investigate it less thoroughly. He also said Clarke had got the law wrong when he claimed that a case of an 18-year-old having sex with a 15-year-old girl would be treated as rape even if she were willing. In fact in those circumstances the crime would be unlawful sexual intercourse; statutory rape is when the girl is 13 or under. In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live on Wednesday, Clarke rejected a suggestion that “rape is rape” and talked about “serious rape with violence and an unwilling woman”. Gee, who travelled the country advising police forces on how to increase conviction rates in his work for the Home Office and Acpo, said: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. When I listened to it again to check my hearing of it, it was even worse then I’d thought. “It showed an ignorance of the facts and about rape in general. He drew an obvious distinction between ‘serious’ rape and other categories. “It legitimises the myth that ‘proper’ rape must involve violence and injury. It sends a message to jurors who have an attitude that there are degrees of rape that they are right and may make them less likely to convict.” Gee said it was “outrageous” for Clarke to get his facts wrong on statutory rape. “He’s responsible for justice and he doesn’t know the law.” On the sentencing proposals, he said: “Why is rape being included with what are currently deemed to be lesser offences? It will weaken the investigative mindset of officers at the outset. “At a time when we’re trying to get more people to report rape, this announcement will have done nothing to help and may even have reversed those efforts. What are they thinking of?” He also criticised Clarke for suggesting victims wanted to be spared the trauma of going to court, saying that for many it was an important part of the cathartic process. Gee, a retired detective chief superintendent, for five years managed Acpo’s rape support programme, which worked with forces around the country to improve their handling of rape cases and drive up conviction rates. He also worked with officials in the Home Office dealing with policy on sexual violence and co-wrote Acpo’s national guidance on rape. He left his role in March this year voluntarily and has not been replaced, but still does unpaid work with voluntary organisations and talks to police forces when asked. Kenneth Clarke Rape UK criminal justice Rachel Williams guardian.co.uk