The sister and cousin of a convicted rapist have been jailed for perverting the course of justice after contacting the victim to try to get her to change her account. The rapist’s mother was also drawn into the conspiracy but today she received a suspended sentence.
Matthew Fox, 33, was jailed for 11 years on Friday (4 October) after being found guilty of raping a woman near a Peterborough city centre car park.
Today (Wednesday), his sister, Jamie-Lee Fox, 37, was jailed for two years and eight months, while his cousin, Alfie Smith, 27, was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Fox’s mother, Alison Quinn-Gajdur, 58, was also convicted of perverting the course of justice but was spared prison after being handed a suspended sentence.
Police officers caught Matthew Fox climbing off the unconscious victim as she laid on the ground in the early hours of 22 July 2022.
CCTV operators had been monitoring the pair as they left a nearby bar and alerted police after becoming concerned for the woman’s welfare, believing her to be highly intoxicated.
Traffic officers found the pair at the top of a ramp to a car park in Cattle Market Road, with Fox climbing off the woman who was laid unresponsive on the ground.
An ambulance was called who took the woman to hospital where she regained consciousness several hours later, and Fox was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
He denied a charge of rape, but a jury unanimously found him guilty following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court earlier this year.
The court heard how the pair were not known to each other but had met whilst drinking in a bar and leaving together.
In police interview, Fox said they began kissing in the bar before starting to walk to his car and having consensual sex in a doorway a few times.
They continued walking when she tripped and fell, so he picked her up and carried her along Cattle Market Way where they again had consensual sex. However, when police arrived, the woman was unresponsive.
Fox, of Stumpacre, Bretton, Peterborough, appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday (4 October) where he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
He was also sentenced for perverting the course of justice, after admitting the offence alongside his three family members.
After Fox’s charge and remand in prison for rape, police discovered how he had been in contact with the trio, requesting them to contact the victim on his behalf so she would “realise how serious this was” and she would “give an accurate statement”.
The victim received multiple calls to her mobile from an unknown number, later found to be Smith, trying to intimidate her into changing her account to police, while Jamie-Lee Fox sent the woman messages via Facebook and Quinn-Gajdur assisted with contacting the victim and would provide updates to her son in prison.
Today, Smith, of Black Prince Avenue, Market Deeping, Peterborough, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, while Jamie-Lee Fox, of Cleve Place, Eye, Peterborough, was jailed for two years and eight months and Quinn-Gajdur, of Stumpacre, Bretton, Peterborough, was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
Detective Constable Abbie McQuaid, who investigated, said: “Fox took advantage of the woman being intoxicated. She was in no position to consent to sexual activity and required medical assistance.
“We have been working closely with businesses and partner agencies across the county to identify predatory behaviour and safeguard women and girls.
“Thanks to CCTV operators who were concerned about what they saw, our officers were alerted and were able to intervene.
“Anyone found to be interfering with an investigation and trying to pervert the course of justice will be dealt with robustly.”
Information about our work around to safeguard women and girls can be found on our dedicated ‘Know violence against women’ webpage.
ENDS
Custody photos of Matthew Fox, Jamie-Lee Fox and Alfie Smith are attached to this press release.
From left: Alfie Smith, of Black Prince Avenue, Market Deeping; Jamie-Lee Fox of Eye and (right) Matthew Fox, of Stumpacre, Bretton
Peterborough, appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday (4 October) where he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
