The appellant, faced two indictments alleging that she had perverted the course of public justice. The Offences alleged were identical, but mutually contradictory. One alleged that she had made and pursued false allegations of rape against her husband. The other that she had made and pursued a false retraction of these allegations. She pleaded not guilty to the first indictment and guilty to the second. The Crown offered no evidence on the first indictment. She was therefore acquitted by order of the judge and a not guilty verdict was entered. She now appealed against as sentence of 8 months imprisonment.
Held: ‘Of course it is better for a truthful complaint to be pursued, but if the proposal that it should be withdrawn is not accepted, leading to a positive retraction and admission that the original truthful complaint was untrue, and the complainant is then prosecuted to conviction, the sentencing court, when assessing culpability, should recognise and allow for the pressures to which the truthful complainant in such a relationship has been exposed, and should be guided by a broad measure of compassion for a woman who has already been victimised.
This is an exceptional case. We hope that it will be very exceptional for cases of this kind to be prosecuted to conviction in the Crown Court. The sentence for perverting the course of justice normally is, and will normally continue to be, a custodial sentence. That is a requirement of the administration of justice and, where possible, the reduction of crime. But this was not such a case. We have come to the conclusion that the appropriate sentence in this case is a community sentence with a supervision order for a period of two years.’
Judges:
Lord Judge LCJ
Citations:
[2010] EWCA Crim 2913
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 31 August 2022; Ref: scu.427985