The appellant appealed against his conviction, when 12 years old, for the rape of a 5 year old girl, advancing 5 grounds for appeal, namely ‘First, evidence material to the appellant’s case in existence at the time of trial should have been disclosed to the defence. Secondly, fresh evidence has come to light since the trial material to the appellant’s case. Thirdly, the judge was wrong to direct the jury that the medical evidence was capable of supporting the complainant. Fourthly, the judge’s warnings about the evidence of KJ and the accomplice JB were inadequate. Fifthly, the judge’s direction as to the appellant’s good character was inadequate.’
Held: The last three grounds were dismissed shortly. The court admitted the new evidence. The victim’s family was very well known to social services, with histories of child sexual abuse, possibly relating to the victim, and such evidence might have allowed argument as to the cause of the penetrative injury. The co-accused (convicted only of assault) may also have been coached in his evidene, and his admission to carers that he had had penetrative sex with the victim had not been disclosed, and would, again, have allowed his cross examination as to the source of the injury. In the light of the above: ‘ if there had been cross-examination based on the undisclosed pre-trial material to which we have referred, the judge would probably have given a stronger warning about the reliability of KJ and JB and a stronger direction as to the defence case that JB was the rapist. In any event, with or without such directions, the jury’s verdict might have been different. The post-trial material also engenders doubt in this court as to the safety of the conviction in a case which was highly unusual, in view of the ages of the three children and the abnormal sexual background of the two who gave evidence for the prosecution. Accordingly this appeal is allowed and the conviction quashed.’
Judges:
Rose LJ VP CACD, Gibbs, David JJ
Citations:
[2002] EWCA Crim 2878
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Crime
Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.179671