Failures by police sink third rape case

A THIRD rape case in just over a month has collapsed after a failure by police investigators.

The case against Samson Makele was halted at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday after his defence team unearthed key images from his mobile phone.

They had not previously been made available, law firm Hodge Jones and Allen said. Mr Makele, 28, was accused of raping a woman he met after Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 but the case, due to go to trial at the end of the month, was thrown out after more than a dozen pictures emerged of the pair apparently cuddling in bed.

Mr Makele, originally from Eritrea, claimed the sex was consensual.

Investigators from the Metropolitan Police did not find the images, which were discovered when the defence hired an independent forensic expert. The Crown Prosecution Service admitted it received ‘material we were not previously aware of’ from the defence on January 5.

‘It was concluded there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction,’ a spokesman said.

Mr Makele’s lawyer, Paris Theodorou, said his client’s life had been ‘ intolerable and traumatic’ while he waited for the truth to emerge. ‘It is clearly vital that criminal defence solicitors are tech savvy enough to conduct their own analysis in parallel to those undertaken by the police.’

The collapse of two rape cases in December led to an urgent review by the Met of around 30 sex charges.

Scotland Yard announced the review after the trial of Liam Allan was halted on December 14 and the prosecution of Isaac Itiary, accused of raping a child, collapsed a few days later.