A woman conceived by the rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1975 – who fought tirelessly for her ‘birth father’ to be brought to justice – has today welcomed his historic conviction and sentence
Daisy, the justice-campaigner and client of Centre for Women’s Justice has spoken of her relief, as the man who was responsible for raping her underage ‘birth mother’ – resulting in her own conception – has at last faced justice for his appalling crime.
The now 74-year old, Carvel Bennett was convicted of rape following a trial that concluded yesterday (Monday August 2nd) at Birmingham Crown Court for the rape of the then 13-year old girl. Bennett was today sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment.
Giving evidence at his trial on Friday, Daisy’s birth mother, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity, recalled how Mr Bennett instructed his own children to send her to his bedroom after she had attended his home, aged 13, to babysit. She recounted how, once in his bedroom, Mr Bennett promptly instructed her to undress, and then engaged in sexual intercourse with her, despite her protestations that she didn’t want to. Questioned in evidence about her feelings at the time, she described herself as a “scared child” from a disadvantaged background who was used to doing as she was told.
In his evidence to the court, the defendant Mr Bennett sought to portray Daisy’s birth mother as a sexually “confident” child, who had actively pursued and seduced him after misleading him as to her age – an account that was rejected by the jury and, later, by the Judge in his Sentencing Remarks.
Before sentencing Mr Bennett, His Honour Judge Martin Hurst listened to Victim Personal Statements provided both by Daisy’s birth mother, and by Daisy herself, who was permitted to read her statement in court.
Addressing her birth father directly in court, Daisy said:
"Carvel Bennett you have caused total carnage. Your act of violence decimated any potential relationship between my birth mother and me, because you chose to rape a child."
Speaking of her transracial adoption as a baby into a white family, and the pain of feeling like an outsider in a predominantly white community, Daisy later said:
“To know I'm, for some, the embodiment of one of the worst things to happen, to be pregnant by your perpetrator – to find out what happened to my mother – was horrific”, adding “I am more than evidence, more than a witness, more than a product of rape. I am not your shame."
Mr Bennett, who is now 74 years old, was sentenced by HHJ Hurst to 11 years’ imprisonment and informed that he must remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for the remainder of his life. In his Sentencing Remarks, the Judge observed: “This conviction relating to what you did in 1975 has had profound effects, not on your life from what I can, but on the life of your victim...and her daughter Daisy.”
Noting that one “equally troubling” consequence of Mr Bennett’s offence was the impact that it had had on the life of his isolated and transracially adopted daughter Daisy, Judge Hurst added: “[Daisy] has campaigned since then for justice. She is unquestionably just as much a victim in this as her mother.”
After sentence was handed down, Prosecuting Counsel Mr Glenser took the unusual step of asking the Judge to issue a ‘formal commendation’ to Daisy, on record, noting that “this prosecution would not have taken place” were it not for the admirable “grit” and “dogged determination” that Daisy had shown in her personal fight for justice. In agreeing with Mr Glenser’s remarks, Judge Hurst added: “Daisy … has pursued justice in this case for herself and for her mother, as you say doggedly and with determination. She has met many closed doors...The pursuit of justice must be commended and I do commend Daisy for taking those steps”.
Responding to the outcome, Daisy emphasised the central role that her birth mother had played in the proceedings that had ultimately resulted in the defendant’s conviction: “I am so proud of my birth mother for her courage and bravery; the same courage and bravery she displayed as a vulnerable child but tragically was let down in terms of protection and justice. I hope that her strength and dignity encourages other survivors to come forward.”
She added: “I would like an apology from both police and social care, for failing 46 years ago until the present day. They have left children in Birmingham at risk of a child rapist.”
Kate Ellis, solicitor at Centre for Women's Justice said:
‘We are pleased to see Daisy formally commended today, both by the prosecution and by a Crown Court Judge, for her tireless determination to see justice done, even in the most personally difficult of circumstances. To achieve this outcome both Daisy and her birth mother have overcome extraordinary odds and a series of shocking historic failures by all of the authorities that were supposed to protect them.’
With support from Centre for Women’s Justice, Daisy will continue to campaign for greater awareness of rape conception – and for men and women conceived as a result of rape to be formally recognised as victims of crime, so that they are entitled to adequate victim care and support. She hopes too that this legal recognition will enable complaints of rape resulting in pregnancy to be pursued and properly investigated, in some cases, even where the ‘direct’ victim is not (or not initially) available or willing to give evidence at trial. Daisy will be launching a ‘Crowdjustice’ campaign this week to assist her in developing this important campaign.
Background
Daisy, who has previously campaigned for justice under the pseudonym ‘Vicky Smith’ to avoid prejudicing the trial, was placed in foster care in 1975 and subsequently put up for adoption. At age 18, she requested her adoption file, and was devastated to read that her birth mother had been a child aged just 13 when an adult man in his late 20s had allegedly forced himself on her, resulting in her pregnancy. The files also recorded the name and background of the man whom her birth mother had accused, a mature married man and close family friend, Carvel Bennett. It later became clear that the police had declined to take any action at the time, after Mr Bennett had denied paternity of the baby.
As Daisy’s birth mother did not feel able to pursue a fresh complaint to the police, having been ignored when she first sought to report it as a child, Daisy approached West Midlands Police herself. She made the case that in the circumstances, she herself was living, breathing “proof” of a sexual offence committed against a child of 13, given that her DNA would now be capable of proving paternity. She was however turned away by the police, who told her that unless her birth mother was willing to give evidence at trial, there was nothing that could be done. Even with the compelling evidence available – not least Daisy’s own DNA – it was the police’s view that prosecution was impossible, and that in any event Daisy could not pursue a complaint herself, since she was not strictly a ‘victim’ of the crime.
Daisy took to campaigning publicly, under a pseudonym,for a proper criminal investigation into the circumstances of her birth, and for men and women who are ‘conceived by rape’ to be formally recognised as ‘victims of crime’.
A surprise development came in 2019 when – after a special feature about Daisy’s justice campaign on the Victoria Derbyshire Show, to which solicitor Kate Ellis of Centre for Women’s Justice contributed – Daisy’s birth mother changed her mind about supporting a prosecution. Following a fresh approach by the police, she agreed to make a formal statement, enabling Daisy’s birth father to be prosecuted, 45 years on, for his historic crime.
In 2020, DNA testing by the police confirmed what Daisy had always known: that her father was Carvel Bennett, the adult ‘friend of the family’ whom her birth mother had first accused in 1975.