Suspect hired IT expert to prove his innocence
ONE of the cleared rape suspects had to hire his own expert to prove his innocence after spending 18 months on bail.
Samson Makele, 28, had been accused of raping a woman he met at the Notting Hill Carnival but it later emerged that police had failed to disclose photographs of him cuddling in bed with the alleged victim.
The Eritrean handyman hired his own expert to retrieve the evidence from his mobile phone after police said it contained nothing of interest.
Mr Makele met the 35- year-old woman at the carnival in west London in August 2016 and they spent the night together at his home in east London, where he claimed they had consensual sex.
The woman told police the next day she had been raped. Mr Makele was charged with the offence and spent 18 months on bail.
However, after detectives returned the phone, an expert found the photos showing Mr Makele and the woman in bed. In January the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case at Snaresbrook Crown Court.