Recent Cases

R v Z

The defendant had been accused of, amongst other things, raping a female whilst she was so heavily intoxicated she would not have been capable of consenting to sex.

The defendant had given an account in interview stating that consensual sexual intercourse had taken place. Careful case preparation revealed that the police had taken blood samples from the alleged victim and the defendant – this analysis showed that the victim would not have been so drunk that she could not have consented to sex.

During the defendant’s trial the alleged victim was challenged and the jury accepted that the defendant’s account was correct and acquitted the defendant of rape. The prosecution attempted to secure a conviction against the defendant for an alternative offence to rape.

Lengthy legal argument took place and submissions were made on behalf of the defendant suggesting that the prosecution were abusing their powers in seeking to convict the defendant of an alternative offence to rape when the evidence did not support such a case. The Crown Court ruled in favour of the defendant striking out his case as an abuse of process. As a result of our hard work the defendant was cleared on all matters.