Andrew Tate: Three women to sue influencer claiming he raped and abused them

The women first made complaints to police eight years ago, but say detectives failed to investigate the allegations before dropping the case.

The group, aged in their late 20s or early 30s, worked as webcam models for Tate in Luton from 2013 and claim they were abused, poorly paid and threatened.

"To have seen Andrew Tate's rise in popularity and influence, while knowing who he is and what he has done, has been extremely difficult for those of us who were sexually and physically abused by him," one told Sky News.

"We intend to prove in court that Andrew is abusive, coercive and controlling and that his public statements about women are nothing more than fantasy."

The social media influencer has denied the accusations and through his legal team said the women "wanted money because I fired them."

The women's lawyer, Matt Jury, said: "Their allegations include rape, sexual and physical assaults, including holding guns to women's heads, strangulations including with belts, allegations of the most awful behaviour towards women."

In 2015, Hertfordshire police began investigating the women's allegations and arrested Tate three times on suspicion of raping two women and assaulting a third.

But the case was dropped four years later with no further action and the force apologised for delays in the investigation.

Another of the alleged victims said: "After first meeting Andrew my life was impacted negatively from the daily mental manipulation and physical abuse that I endured every single day.

"I now suffer with depression, anxiety, stress and have been diagnosed with PTSD.

"This has taken a huge toll on me, it's affected every single aspect of my life; my work, my mental health and my family.

"Seeing Andrew first blow up on social media was a huge shock to the system. I hadn't seen him for years since he had left the UK and I never thought I would see him again."

The Crown Prosecution Service said it had reviewed the evidence provided by Hertfordshire police in its investigation in 2019 and found "no realistic prospect of conviction".

Jury said: "When they went to the police their allegations were not treated seriously, the police didn't take effective action. The evidence was there.

"We're aware of the evidence that was provided, it should have been sufficient to warrant proper criminal intent investigation and, in our opinion, for charges to be brought.

"If those charges had been brought, and he'd been arrested here in England, then perhaps he wouldn't have fled to Romania where he is reported to have committed further terrible crimes against women."

The kickboxer is currently under house arrest in Romania while police investigate suspected human trafficking, rape and sexual exploitation of women.

His brother Tristan and two other Romanian women face the same allegations of which they all deny.

A spokesman for Andrew Tate said he denied the UK allegations and criticised the women and their lawyers for alerting them through the media and their use of crowdfunding.

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesperson said: "This was a complex and challenging case that was fully investigated by specialist officers from the constabulary’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team (SOIT) who, during the course of the investigation, sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

"We acknowledge that there were some delays to the investigation. This was addressed at the time and apologies were made. At no stage was the investigation closed and officers take all allegations of sexual assault seriously.

"The case was only closed in late 2019 after a case file had been sent to the CPS and the decision was made not to prosecute. All those involved in the investigation were further updated.

"As is normal practice in cases of a complex nature, officers were in regular contact with CPS colleagues throughout the investigation to ensure that a full and complete case file was presented to them for consideration."