QC tipped to replace DPP criticises current rape policy
ONE of the favourites to replace Alison Saunders as Director of Public Prosecutions has previously criticised police for believing all rape victims, saying the “rigid mindset” was part of the reason for a string of failed sex assault cases.
In an apparent criticism of Ms Saunders’s approach, Alison Levitt warned last year that a police tendency to believe everyone who reported a rape could mean that they overlooked evidence.
The current DPP has come under fire for tipping the balance too far in favour of accusers, leading to the collapse of several rape cases in recent months.
Ms Levitt’s appointment would mark a dramatic change from Ms Saunders if she takes on the role in October. It
THERE has been a rise in violent crime across the UK since Alison Saunders became Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), figures have shown, as critics branded her term in office “disastrous” following the collapse of a series of rape trials.
Since 2013, when Ms Saunders was appointed, there have been large increases in several types of violent crime, including rape and homicides, according to official police figures.
During her five-year tenure there was a focus on investigating historic sex offences and journalists, following the phone hacking scandal and highprofile sex abuse cases.
Bob Neill, the chairman of the justice select committee, said there had been “serious concerns” about the priorities of the CPS under Ms Saunders’s leadership.
As The Telegraph revealed yesterday, Ms Saunders will not be reappointed for a second term in office and will be replaced later this year. She has denied she was asked not to continue in the role, but her critics said she was simply “not up to the job”. Mr Neill told The Telegraph if Ms Saunders had sought to continue, “questions would have been asked” about her suitability, following concerns about disclosure which led to a review of all rape cases.
The latest figures for police-recorded crime show large increases in violent offences since 2014.
Critics say some of the increase can be explained by pressure on police funding, which in turn has forced police to make difficult choices about what types of crime they pursue.
It came as Cressida Dick said the Met Police would approach rape cases with an “open mind” and stop the practice of automatically believing all victims, a marked departure from Ms Saunders’s approach.
Figures show crimes that involved violence against the person rose by 84.5 per cent since 2013-14, with 1.3 million offences recorded by the police in the year ending September 2017.
This figure stood at just 699,900 in the year-ending September 2014. There has been a similarly large increase in sexual offences between the year ending September 2014 and the year ending September 2017 – with the number rising by 89 per cent from 16,800 to 37,200. The data has been taken from official police recorded crime figures, not the crime survey.
Jerry Hayes, who prosecuted one of the failed rape cases which triggered a review of all similar cases across the UK, told The Telegraph there had to be a “cultural change” in the CPS to tackle the issue of disclosure.
He was responsible for helping to reveal scores of messages which ultimately cleared a man accused of rape but which had previously not been seen by the defence or prosecution. Mrs Saunders has dismissed claims that the Government made it clear it did not want her to remain in post. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “it was my decision to leave”.
But Daniel Janner, a criminal law QC and son of Lord Janner, who was charged over allegations of child abuse but was too ill to stand trial, was highly critical of Ms Saunders yesterday.
He said: “Within the legal profession, and I am a criminal QC, she is regarded as somebody who simply wasn’t up to the job.”