A demand for justice

There are few things worse than being accused of a crime one did not commit: to avoid error, it is beholden upon the police and Crown Prosecution Service to sift through every piece of potential evidence. And yet last year, two prominent rape trials collapsed within one week; in both cases, after new evidence came to light. This week, proceedings against Samson Makele were also halted at Snaresbrook Crown Court after his defence unearthed vital images from his mobile phone that the police had failed to find.

New technologies mean the evidence trail is spread thin and wide over phones and social media – and, yes, this puts strains on the police. But it is still their duty to do the job right. In light of recent errors, Scotland Yard has launched an urgent review of approximately 30 cases. And yet, Alison Saunders, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), says it was understandable that evidence relevant to Mr Makele’s case wasn’t identified earlier and that no one, as far as she could tell, is unjustly imprisoned at present due to disclosure failures.

This is typical of Mrs Saunders, who follows a highly political agenda. Her goal is to raise the rate of rape convictions, which is depressingly low. But running the risk that innocent people are labelled guilty in a crusade to tilt the scales of justice is wrong. In Britain, a fair trial is a sacred right, and if the police are systematically failing to gather relevant evidence, the reaction of the DPP should be to demand that they do. Mrs Saunders certainly should not rush to the defence of procedures that even her allies in the police have tacitly admitted are under suspicion.