The defendant was charged with the incest of his 5 year old daughter. She was called into the witness box, but was unable to give evidence. Her grandmother was called and gave evidence of the complaint made to her by the girl.
Held: The terms of the complaint ought not to have been admitted. There might in these circumstances have been no objection to the fact of the making of the complaint, as opposed to its terms, being admissible, but: ‘ There would have been no objection to the grandmother saying: ‘The little girl made a complaint to me’ and she could have been asked: ‘In consequence of that complaint what did you do?’ – and the answer would have been ‘I took her to the doctor and later to the police.’ One realises that, although the terms of the child’s statement must not be given, any jury could see at once that as a consequence of the complaint the grandmother took the child to the doctor and the police and that the terms of the complaint would mention her father. So there is really a certain artificiality about this rule that, although the statement which a girl or woman makes in these circumstances is not evidence of the facts complained of, at any rate it shows the jury at the time whether the name of the prisoner is mentioned or is not mentioned, for what happens is that the police go to a particular man and that is because the girl or woman has mentioned the name. Nevertheless, the evidence ought not to have been given and the learned judge ought to have told the jury to disregard it.’
Judges:
Lord Goddard LCJ
Citations:
(1958) 42 Cr App Rep 153
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Criticised – White v The Queen PC 10-Aug-1998
(Jamaica) Where a rape complainant gave evidence to support the prosecution that she had complained of the offence immediately afterwards, the court should be careful to direct the jury of the caution to be applied to the weight given to that . .
Cited – Spooner, Eric Charles v Regina; (Evidence: Sex abuse) CACD 25-May-2004
The defendant appealed his convictions for child sex abuse, involving assault, rape and buggery, saying that evidence of a recent complaint by a schoolgirl friend of the complainant which was not consistent with other evidence of the complainant . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 01 February 2022; Ref: scu.198135