Student in failed rape trial vows to sue police
A student wrongly put on trial for rape vowed to sue the police and Crown Prosecution service yesterday.
Liam Allan, 22, spent almost two years on bail and was three days into his trial when the judge halted proceedings because police failed to disclose damning messages from his accuser.
Half of all court cases are blighted by such issues, according to a report by the prosecution watchdog.
Mr Allan described his time on bail as ‘ hell’ and said he felt he had ‘no choice’ but to sue. Yesterday One of the accuser’s texts it emerged his accuser texted friends to say their sexual encounters were consensual, writing in september 2015: ‘It wasn’t against my will or anything.’
But four months later she went to police claiming the student had raped her six times – the last ‘attack’ being a days before she sent the text to her friends. the woman, who is legally entitled to lifelong anonymity, told detectives that the then 18year-old raped her six times between september 2014 and August 2015.
she claimed the final attack happened after she had taken a sleeping pill and awoke to find him raping her in August 2015.
But it emerged that on August 28, she texted a friend to tell her that she was feeling the ‘happiest I’ve ever been’.
then on september 3 she told a friend that ‘sex is the number one priority’ for her, adding: ‘You know it is always nice to be sexually assaulted without breaking the law.’
the damning texts and WhatsApp messages made a mockery of her claims to police that she did not like being intimate with men.
they were downloaded from her phone in January 2016 by investigators when she made the allegations, but detective Constable Mark Azariah, 37, who led the case, considered them too ‘personal’ and didn’t hand them over until mid- way through the trial at the insistence of a new prosecutor on the case.
When asked by sky news whether he planned to take legal action, Mr Allan responded: ‘that’s the plan.’
scotland Yard has announced it is urgently reviewing the police investigation in tandem with the CPs after the case was kicked out at Croydon Crown Court on december 14.
A report by the HM Crown Prosecution service Inspectorate said police disclosure and schedules of evidence compiled by detectives for court cases were ‘routinely poor’.
An inspection in July, which looked at 146 court cases across the country, found that more than half showed ‘obvious disclosure issues’. At least 56 cases had been scrapped or had ‘unsuccessful outcomes’ because of failure to disclose evidence between 2013 and last year.
It wasn’t against my will or anything September 2015
WHEN a student was finally cleared of rape last week, after two years’ hell on bail, the Mail raised the disturbing question: ‘Are the innocent being sacrificed on the altar of militant feminism?’ Already there are worrying signs the answer may be Yes. our question was prompted by the shocking revelation that police failed until the 11th hour to disclose crucial evidence proving Liam Allan’s innocence.
The clear suspicion was that they may have been influenced by the crusade for increased rape conviction rates led by Alison Saunders, the feminist-friendly Director of Public Prosecutions.
Now it emerges that a review of 146 court cases found ‘obvious’ failings of disclosure by police and the Crown Prosecution Service in more than half, warning that without improvement ‘the likelihood of a fair trial can be jeopardised’.
Angela rafferty QC, who chairs the Criminal Bar Association, comments worryingly that the police and CPS may show ‘unconscious bias’ towards those who report sex offences.
If so, there’s a cancer at the heart of our criminal justice system, which has to be excised. British justice must tolerate no bias – or it is unworthy of the name. ToDAY this paper exposes how ryanair, notorious for hidden charges and cancelling flights on a whim, exploits its staff as shabbily as it treats passengers. Some of those tempted by its low prices may conclude it’s worth paying more to fly with an airline that treats people decently.