The court granted leave to appeal against conviction, but then dismissed the defendant’s appeal. He had been convicted of sexual assault on a young child.
Held: A delay in a hearing did not of itself render the evidence of a very young complainant child unreliable. The child, aged four and a half years old had been consistent in her accounts of the events which took place when she was three years old. The court took the opportunity to emphasise that it can be inappropriate for an advocate in such cases to subject a young child witness to a detailed cross-examination with a view of undering the complainant’s credibility. The trial process must cater for the needs of witnesses. The competency test is not failed because the forensic techniques of the advocate or the processes of the court have to be adapted to enable the witness to give the best evidence of which he or she is capable.
Judges:
Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice, Lady Justice Hallett and Mrs Justice Macur
Citations:
[2010] EWCA Crim 4, Times 05-Feb-2010
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v F CACD 14-Mar-2013
The crown sought leave to appeal against a terminating ruling. The defendant was accused of rape and sexual assault against his sister, profoundly deaf and with learning difficulties. The judge had found the victim to not be competent to give . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 13 August 2022; Ref: scu.393345