MP calls for rape case juries to be scrapped

JURIES should be done away with in rape trials to improve conviction rates against young men, a veteran Labour MP has suggested.

Ann Coffey said a “perfect storm” was brewing in which juries were reluctant to convict defendants, the Crown Prosecution Service was reluctant to prosecute and the police were reluctant to charge suspects.

She said despite an increase in rapes reported to the police, the number of men charged in England and Wales had fallen to its lowest level in a decade. The scales of justice appeared to be tipped against the victim, she added.

Men aged between 18 and 24 were consistently less likely to be found guilty than older men, Ms Coffey claimed, and she urged the Government to consider a shake-up of the criminal justice system.

During a Westminster Hall debate she said there should be an “urgent independent inquiry that would include some controversial areas” such as a review of the use of juries in rape cases. She also suggested jury vetting, the introduction of specialist rape courts, and an examination of the role of “expert witnesses” in rape cases.

“I absolutely accept that the justice system needs to ensure that the innocent go free and the guilty are sentenced, but my concern is that conviction rates indicate that the scales of justice are tipped against the victim,” she said. “The most common cause of unsuccessful prosecutions in rape cases is jury acquittal.”

Ms Coffey, the MP for Stockport since 1992, said some sections of society still believe such myths as “women invite rape by what they wear” or “rapists are strangers in alleyways”. Juries took such attitudes into the courtroom and defence lawyers played up to the myths.

“A perfect storm is developing,” she warned, “and the result will be that victims will stop coming forward and young women will be denied justice. The danger is that we will be thrown back to the dark days, when victims of such abuse were silenced and dared not speak out.”

Lucy Frazer, a justice minister and barrister, said the issue may be revisited when a research paper is published in early 2019 but agreed more research was required.