‘Tenuous’ history searches delay rape trials
Victims forced to wait up to nine months while their council and school records are scoured, finds review
RAPE victims’ trials are being delayed for up to nine months by “tenuous” and “disproportionate” searches of their medical, council and even school records, a review by the Attorney General has found.
Some victims are waiting months while police and prosecutors carry out “intrusive” searches of “third party” records for personal details that turn out to be irrelevant to the trial.
Speaking to the The Daily Telegraph, Suella Braverman QC cited the case of a rape victim where searches of her carer’s records added nine months to the case, yet the resulting evidence was “not relevant to the trial”. “The longer it takes, the more likely it is that the victim will drop out,” she said.
This week she will propose a reform package to curb delays including: sweeping away unnecessary searches; reducing time-consuming redaction of video and written evidence that can take police officers away from rape investigations for days; and earlier disclosure of evidence by lawyers.
It is part of a government drive to reverse the slump in rape prosecutions – just 1.3 per cent of cases recorded by the police have resulted in a charge or summons, while at the same time sex offences have hit a record high of 183,500 in the year to December 2021.
Victims’ groups have blamed the decline in successful prosecutions on intrusive investigations into their private lives, delays in getting to court and fears of reliving their trauma in a witness box in sight of their alleged attacker.
Government scorecards, introduced to expose delays in the criminal justice system, show it currently takes 457 days on average from a suspect being charged to the completion of the trial.
Ms Braverman said “disproportionate and obsessive” requests for thirdparty searches were one of three problem areas slowing down the process, although the review showed a general positive view of the disclosure rules introduced in 2020.
Her review will propose only material that is “relevant to a reasonable line of inquiry” is sought in third-party searches, that it should be recorded and a clear rationale laid out before any request is made. “We need to make sure that prosecutors think twice before making these searches. I am trying to avoid fishing expeditions,” she said.
Vera Baird, the Victims’ Commissioner, has highlighted cases such as a woman asked for her entire medical history “even though I only dated my rapist for five weeks”. The woman added: “They ‘let slip’ that any sign of drug abuse or depression in my medical history could influence the CPS’S decision. Can addicts and the mentally ill not be raped?”
In another case, a letter forged by a rape complainant from her mother to get out of a lesson was thought to be “relevant” to the inquiry even though it had happened 10 years previously. Ms
Braverman said she had also come across police officers who were redacting 12 hours of CCTV footage, or film from body-worn video, to pixelate images of anyone not associated with the alleged offence. New guidance will require only the relevant section or message to be downloaded.
She said prosecution and defence lawyers also needed to be more up front earlier on about the evidence to be disclosed in the trial so they avoided delays.
The moves follow an overhaul of rape investigations to ensure officers focus on suspects rather than investigating the credibility of the victim, and allowing victims to pre-record video evidence.