A POLICE force allegedly ignored warnings from its own officer about a serial rapist after she was assaulted – even suggesting she could be lying.
Bruno Sala, 39, was given a life sentence last year after a crime spree of meeting women online before raping them, sometimes repeatedly.
Between 2019 and 2021, he abused and raped three women in their 40s.
He often used violence and drugs to control them, telling one he was her “boss” before forcing himself on her.
Sala also arranged for a second man, Edson Domingos, to rape one of the victims.
The 39-year-old told the woman she wasn’t raped because he’d given the man “permission”.
Hampshire Police said in a statement when he was jailed: “I cannot commend the women who have stood up to these two men enough. The strength and resilience shown by all in both reporting to us, and in seeing this through the courts, is incredible.”
But a Channel 4 investigation has revealed the force ignored warnings about the rapist five years earlier.
Victoria Tomkins, who worked as a police constable for 16 years, reported that Sala reported her in January 2020.
Waiving her right to anonymity, she said they met on Tinder in 2019.
The mother-of-two reported rape and coercive control to the force after she was left in hospital in 2020.
But she claims the force didn’t investigate and allegedly said there was a possibility she was “lying”.
The case wasn’t passed to the Crown Prosecution Service because of insufficient evidence and “discrepancy” in her account, Channel 4 reports.
But just three months later, Sala assaulted another woman.
“They [the police] didn’t listen – they let this monster carry on his rampage,” she said,
He was only charged in April 2022 – after raping a fourth woman.
But the previous women he targeted only found out about this through newspaper articles.
Victoria said: “I will never forgive the police. To know these ladies have been damaged sits heavily on my shoulders.”
She resigned from the police after her ordeal, telling Hampshire Police: “I cannot put on a uniform and represent a Constabulary that has thoroughly let me and other women down.
“The male who abused me was allowed to continue his reign of terror on women and there are now multiple victims.”
Sala, who is of Portuguese nationality, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years at Portsmouth Crown Court.
He was sentenced to for six counts of rape, one count of assault and two counts of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.
The police said he “created situations in which he would meet a woman through a dating app and gain their trust, before revealing his true personality and subjecting them to truly horrific physical and sexual abuse”.
“He viewed these women as his possessions and felt that he could do with them whatever he so pleased, including offering them to other men for sex without their consent.
“Sala enabled Domingos to help him continue this abhorrent abuse, carrying out despicable crimes against another human being.
“The details of their actions are truly sickening and some of the most abhorrent behaviour I have ever come across.”
Domingos – the man Sala invited to rape one of the women – was sentenced at the same court.
The 41-year-old – who is of UK and Angolan nationality – was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, plus 3 years on licence due to dangerousness, for two counts of rape.
In a statement to Channel 4, Hampshire Constabulary’s Assistant Chief Constable Paul Bartolomeo said: “Significant leadership changes have taken place, and we have made it unequivocally clear to our officers and staff that victim blaming language is not acceptable.
“Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for the force and we are committed to identifying and relentlessly pursuing perpetrators.
“Following Sala’s conviction, we commissioned a review of the initial investigation and our internal response to identify any learning which will include the experiences of the women involved to ensure their voices are heard.
“We are also examining whether there are any further lines of enquiry which can be pursued and investigated. This includes whether any additional victims can be identified and supported so that we can secure justice for them.”
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