Man accused of raping his 33-year-old daughter is cleared after DNA evidence

A British father who had been charged with raping his daughter was freed after DNA evidence vindicated him.

The 62-year-old Philip Forsythe was held after his 33-year-old daughter Tammi said she was pulled from an alleyway and into a bush while on vacation in the Greek resort of Malia on the island of Crete.

The mother of four reported that she and her father had been drinking extensively while they were in a bar.

They returned to their hotel at around 5am, but Tammi, who resides in Hull with her father, said she stumbled into an alley and couldn’t get up because she was too inebriated.

She first noticed a man standing above her at around 7:15 a.m.

“He grabbed me by my legs, dragged me into a bush and raped me,” she told The Mail Online.

“I was left stunned by the whole thing and after it happened, I could not move for about 15 minutes because I was too scared.”

She went back to the hotel and reported the attack to the British Consulate and then Greek police.

Police accused her dad of carrying out the attack and they arrested him.

After her father’s arrest, Tammi waived her right to anonymity to protest her dad’s innocence and to say she feared she is pregnant after the attack.

But now Tammi says she’s 60 per cent sure that she’s pregnant after the horror attack.

“This holiday has turned into a horror movie,” she said.

“I’m really suffering with stress and anxiety which has only got worse because I’m feeling a bit sick and have missed my period. I’m usually very regular and it’s not like me.

“I’ve been told by the British Consulate that I need to go to a medical clinic to have a blood test, but I’ve been suffering from such bad panic attacks that I need someone to accompany me.

“But I’m here on my own and have got nobody to help me.”

Tammi’s dad was arrested on June 11, two days after she was raped and he was held in jail awaiting the results of DNA tests.

Police were relying on CCTV from a local bar where Mr Forsythe, 62, who had been drinking with his daughter, was seen being physical with her.But Tammi said officers “completely misunderstood” what she told them about what happened and her description of the attacker.

“I told them that my father was wearing all white, but they took that to mean that the attacker was wearing all white,” she said.

She asked the Greek police to focus on catching the real rapist.

“The police made up their minds from the start that my father was guilty and have not done anything about finding the real rapist,” she said.

Mr Forsythe has now been released after DNA tests on sperm found on her clothes found it was not his, an investigating judge in Heraklion told The Sun Online.

Police in Hersonissos, the nearest town to Malia where the incident had reportedly taken place, said “justice had spoken”.

Tammi is celebrating the news of her father’s release and said she can’t wait to give him a “big hug” again.

She said: “The first thing I will do when I see my dad is give him a big hug.

“This is wonderful news, one of the best days of my life. I’ve spoken to him briefly on the phone but he then had to get his belongings together for his release.”

Tammi added: “Words cannot describe how happy we both are and that it’s finally over and we can get back home with the family.

“Right at this time I need time to process everything and to spend time with my father.”