By James Simons-
About 30 rape cases due to go to trial and “scores” more investigations will be reviewed following the collapse of two cases in a week.
Yesterday, the CPS dropped a case against a man charged with raping a child under 16 because of late and relevant evidence provided by police in recent days.
After Liam Allan’s rape trial collapsed last week because of evidence revealing the alleged victim had begged for casual sex, the CPS and the police have began to tread more carefully . The Met has revealed that the same officer responsible for last week’s blunder worked on both cases and remains on full duty.
A police spokesman said the force was not referring the officer involved to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), but has provided no good reason for this.
The most recent case involving Isaac Itiary has revealed similar concerns as the that of Allan. The Crown Prosecution Service said “new material” provided by Scotland Yard meant the case could not proceed.
Justice Minister Dominic Raab said the non-disclosure of evidence was “deeply worrying” and that the investigation needed to find out how “widespread” the issue was. The Met review is designed to ascertain that all digital evidence in other sex crime cases has been disclosed to the CPS. Liam Allan was charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault but his trial collapsed after police were ordered to hand over phone records crucial to th
Barrister Jerry Hayes who prosecuted the case against Mr Allan agreed with Mr Evans’ assertion that the problem was “systemic” within the police, He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “You speak to any barrister they will tell you stories that this happens every single day and it has got to stop.”
He said anyone about to go to trial should seek a letter from the police force to say all evidence has been disclosed, and for those convicted, “they will have to be looked at again”.
TIME AND STRESS
Former Met detective chief inspector Peter Kirkham told the Victoria Derbyshire programme it was a resources issue.
“Since 2010, we have reduced the number of police officers around the country by about 20,000 – that’s about 15%,” he said.
“You cannot do what you can’t do.
“If you go and speak to any of the police officers on the [rape units] they are not sleeping at night.
“They are suffering from stress. [They aren’t disclosing evidence] because they haven’t got time to do their jobs properly.”
If the police do not have enough time to thoroughly do their job, this is a worrying issue. Enough resources need to be given to police to aid their job, particularly in rape cases.