Rape case gaffe by police may pave way for flood of appeals

THE Metropolitan Police is to hold an “urgent” review after being accused of failing to disclose vital evidence of sex texts sent by a “rape victim”.

Liam Allan, 22, who was accused of six rapes and six sexual assaults, was three days into his trial at Croydon Crown Court when the prosecuting barrister sensationally announced he was halting proceedings because crucial information had not been provided to the defence team.

The detective in charge of the case is now being investigated for allegedly failing to hand over thousands of text messages from the woman’s mobile, which undermined the complainant’s claims. Among them were messages she had sent to friends indicating she enjoyed violent sex and rape fantasies.

Scotland Yard announced it was urgently reviewing the investigation in tandem with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). But legal experts said this could pave the way for a string of appeals amid concern that other cases had not been investigated and handled properly by the police and CPS.

It is understood that while the phone had been downloaded, much of the material had not been examined in detail, possibly due to pressure of work within the investigation team.

Jerry Hayes QC, prosecuting, said as soon as the material was handed over it “blew the case out of the water”.

He said: “Clearly the officer hadn’t reviewed it in any detail. He had failed in his duty of disclosure.”

Mr Allan, who was first arrested almost two years ago, said he felt let down by the system and that “conviction rates have become like sales targets”. The number of rapes reported to police has gone up from around 13,000 in 2002 to 45,000 last year.