Police missed evidence proving rape suspect’s innocence
LAWYERS acting on behalf of a rape suspect uncovered crucial messages proving his innocence - messages which Leicestershire Police said were “irretrievable”.
The case relates to a 17-yearold boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and the alleged assault of two teenage girls.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case last week after it was revealed that dozens of pages of social media messages had been found that proved the teenager’s innocence.
It is believed the youth was expelled from his Leicestershire school following his arrest.
According to a report in The Times, the teenager could be the youngest victim of the disclosure scandal currently engulfing the justice system.
A Leicestershire police spokesman said that “at the outset of the investigation, officers determined that the messages had been deleted and conclud- ed - we now accept, mistakenly - that they were irretrievable”.
“The suspect was specifically asked when arrested and interviewed, about social media messages with the girl but he declined, as is his legal right, to make any comment.
“In October last year, lawyers representing the suspect pro- vided these messages to prosecution lawyers who nonetheless decided in December to continue with the prosecution whilst continuing to review all the available evidence in the case.”
The spokesman added that the force takes all allegations of rape “extremely seriously” and remains steadfast in its determi- nation to comprehensively investigate to either help prove or disprove an allegation.
“In this case, whilst we acknowledge that attempts should and could have been made to retrieve the deleted messages, we would wish to point out they formed but one aspect of this extremely complex investigation.”
The teenager has now been cleared of rape after the prosecution offered no evidence.
Lawyers acting for the suspect are believed to have uncovered some 233 pages of Facebook messages that proved a consensual relationship had taken place, according to The Times.
The defence found the messages in October and say they passed them on to the prosecution then.
However, the case was not dropped until last week.
According to The Times, Katya Saudek, for the defence, told Judge Nicholas Dean QC, that she would write to the director of public prosecutions calling for an investigation into the case, which she said had been dogged by catastrophic failings.
A spokesman for the CPS said “new material” in the case had not been made available until late November when “further reviews of the case were undertaken.
“Following these reviews, in January 2018, it was concluded that there was no realistic prospect of a conviction,” he added.
“We decided to offer no evidence and did so at a hearing on February 2 at Leicester Crown Court.”
The spokesman added that the suspect was interviewed again in November as part of the review process by Leicestershire Police once the new “material” had come to light.
However, he said: “Further reviews were completed in January 2018, where the conclusion was reached that there was no longer a realistic prospect of a conviction and the decision was made to stop the case.”
The decision is the latest in a series of rape trials around the country which have collapsed because of late disclosure of evidence.
As a result the CPS is reviewing all rape cases.