70pc surge in failed prosecutions caused by evidence blunders

THE number of prosecutions that collapsed because of blunders in disclosing crucial evidence has soared by 70 per cent in the past two years, figures show.

More than 900 suspects had charges dropped last year because police and prosecutors failed to hand over evidence to defence lawyers.

It comes amid disquiet at the criminal justice system after a string of rape cases were halted because the authorities had not passed on texts and photographs which undermined the alleged victims’ stories.

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has come under fire for insisting no one innocent is in jail after being wrongly convicted because of mistakes in disclosure. Data obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act showed that 916 people had charges dropped last year due to failures to share evidence – up from 537 in 2014-15 and 732 the following year.

In the lead up to criminal trials, police and prosecutors have a duty to disclose evidence that might either assist the defence case or undermine the prosecution.

But the recent collapse of several rape cases has heightened concerns that evidence is not being disclosed early enough, and that the rules are not being followed.

Last month, for example, the trial of 22-year-old criminology student Liam Allan, who was charged with six counts of rape, was halted by a judge after it emerged his accuser had sent hundreds of messages to friends that would have cleared him immediately.

And last week, the case against an Oxford student accused of rape was dropped days before he was due to stand trial after evidence including his accuser’s diary was uncovered. Oliver Mears, 19, had spent more than two years on bail.

Jerry Hayes, the prosecuting barrister in Mr Allan’s case, said he feared innocent people were ‘probably’ being jailed because of disclosure failings.

Angela Rafferty QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, told the BBC that barristers faced ‘a daily struggle in respect of disclosure, delays and all the other disastrous consequences of a system that is openly described by MPs as at breaking point’.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the dropped cases represented only 0.15 per cent of the total number of prosecutions. ‘That is still too many, however, and we are clear there are systemic disclosure issues across the criminal justice system,’ a spokesman said.

‘A system at breaking point’