Nina v The System
When the police said “no crime,” she said “not good enough”
In 2010, Nina Cresswell reported a violent sexual assault to the police. Within hours, she was told it wasn’t a crime.
A decade later - after years of carrying the weight of that dismissal - she spoke out publicly to protect other women. The man she named sued her for defamation.
He dragged her through a three-year legal battle.
He dragged her through a three-year legal battle. And she won.
In 2023, the High Court ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Nina had been violently sexually assaulted - and that speaking out was in the public interest. It was the first successful public interest defence of its kind under the Defamation Act 2013 where an alleged abuser sued a survivor for libel.
The judgment was clear: survivors cannot be silenced for warning others.
But the cost was enormous. Nina had to close her business. The litigation took over her life. The fight for truth became another fight for survival.
Now, with support from Good Law Project, Nina is taking the next step - bringing a claim against Northumbria Police for what she describes as a “deficient and superficial” response when she first reported the assault.
Because none of this should have happened if the police had done their job.
Why This Matters
This isn’t just about one case.
It’s about what happens when:
Survivors report.
Systems dismiss.
Women are forced to carry risk alone.
Nina didn’t speak out for headlines. She said her only motivation was to “protect other women from risk.”
The High Court agreed that her belief in the public interest was reasonable - especially in the context of police failure and the wider pattern of sexual abuse within the tattoo industry at the time.
Her case set a precedent. Now, she is challenging the police’s handling of her report, asking: What accountability exists when institutions fail at the first hurdle?
The Crowdfunder
The current crowdfunder supports legal costs in bringing the claim and protects Nina from adverse costs. Any surplus will support ongoing work resisting injustice.
This is about more than one legal bill.
It’s about making sure survivors aren’t punished for speaking when systems go quiet.
If we want a world where reporting is meaningful - where truth isn’t punished - where public interest actually protects the public - then cases like this matter.
MYH Take
Survivors should not have to become legal experts to be heard. They should not have to bankrupt themselves to protect others. And they certainly should not be sued for telling the truth.
Accountability doesn’t begin in a courtroom. It begins the moment someone reports harm - and is met with seriousness instead of dismissal. We’ll be watching this closely.
If you want to stand alongside Nina, you can find the crowdfunder via Good Law Project’s website. (Link below)
