Police and the Crown Prosecution Service will be taking no further action in relation to the accusations of rape and attempted rape made against Oxford Union President Ben Sullivan. This means that Sullivan will not be charged.
Sullivan was arrested on May 7th in relation to allegations made by two undergraduate students, and was bailed without charge until today, 18th June.
A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said, “No further action was taken against the 21-year-old man from Oxford arrested on suspicion of rape and attempted rape.”
A spokesperson for the CPS stated, “Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, we have decided that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute a 21-year-old man from Oxford who was arrested following a complaint of rape and a complaint of attempted rape made by two women. We will be writing to the complainants to explain our decision in more detail.”
The Union released a statement on Wednesday commenting, “The Union can confirm that the President, Ben Sullivan, was informed by his lawyers at 1550 today that Thames Valley Police would not be pursuing any further action against him.
As far as the Society is concerned, this is the end of the matter. We would like to thank Mr. Sullivan for his work as President under the most difficult of circumstances and wish him well for the future.”
Sullivan has remained in his position as President despite calls for his resignation and avoided facing a vote of No Confidence after members in the chamber voted to not vote on the motion by a margin of 254-101.
