The mum and sister of a young mum who was allegedly sexually assaulted just days before taking her own life have condemned Scotland’s justice system for “doing nothing” about her death.
Two years after mum-of-two Jenna Johnson, 27, from Thurso, killed herself following an alleged sexual assault by two men – and a year after the pair were charged – the Crown Office has not yet decided whether to prosecute them.
Jenna’s distraught mum Carol Forrest and younger sister Kelsey Johnson have demanded action.
Kelsey said: “They fob my mum off with the same story about still examining the evidence when she phones. It infuriates me, the way they just brush it off like it’s nothing when my sister is dead, and my broken-hearted mum is having to raise her devastated kids.”
Jenna killed herself at home in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2019.
The Record highlighted the tragic case for the first time in February 2019 after speaking to Carol and Kelsey.
They said police were not taking seriously widespread allegations that Jenna had been sexually assaulted days before taking her own life.
In March 2019, Police Scotland told the Record: “The circumstances of her death are non-suspicious. Further police inquiries are ongoing.”
The police were eventually forced to investigate and warrants were obtained in August 2019. The two men’s homes were searched the next month and objects were removed.
Last December, Carol and Kelsey were told the men, then aged 37 and 35, had been “arrested and charged in connection with sexual offences at an address in Thurso in December 2018”.
They had campaigned for a year for Jenna to have a chance of justice, supported by friends and Caithness locals.
For the past year they have kept quiet, waiting for a prosecution decision but their patience has run out.
Kelsey said: “Every time mum phones for an update, she gets the same answer we have been getting all year. How stupid do they think we are? What exactly are they still examining after a year?”
Carol added: “I don’t think the police and the fiscal give much thought to what it does to a family to be kept waiting all this time.
“You’re dealing with this terrible grief, and you know that your daughter’s death might have been caused by others, and you’re waiting to see them in court but it just drags on and on and they treat us like fools.”
She added that in a small community, it was inevitable that they or their friends would see the two men who have been charged on the street occasionally.
She said: “It’s not easy seeing them get on with their lives. We need action and closure, and we want justice.”
Asked about the case, a Crown Office spokesperson said: “A full and thorough investigation is ongoing and the family will continue to be kept updated by Police Scotland in relation to any significant developments.
“The information that can be shared while a case is being investigated is limited so as not to prejudice any potential proceedings.”
