Kato Harris, cleared teacher, criticises Alison Levitt QC, ex-CPS adviser

/ Mike Buchanan

A piece by Richard Ford in today’s Times:

Kato Harris, who was cleared of rape, said that the adviser was “completely hypocritical”

A former senior legal adviser to the director of public prosecutions has been accused by a teacher cleared of sexual assault of being a hypocrite over her views on rape.

Alison Levitt, QC, recently raised concerns over what she termed a police policy of automatically believing rape complainants after the collapse of two high-profile cases last month.

Her comments prompted Kato Harris, who was cleared in 2016 of raping a pupil, to call Ms Levitt “completely hypocritical”. Ms Levitt was said by a judge to have put enormous pressure on the police and CPS over the investigation that led to his prosecution. Judge Martin Edmunds, QC, said that there was nothing to suggest that those acting for the pupil’s parents had acted improperly or that their actions had prevented the police and CPS from conducting a proper inquiry. Mishcon de Reya, where Ms Levitt is a partner, declined to comment on Mr Harris’s remarks.

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3 thoughts on “Kato Harris, cleared teacher, criticises Alison Levitt QC, ex-CPS adviser”

  1. In this case Mr. Harris was persecuted by the rich and very well connected family. Though the prosecution was unsuccessful the family was successful in wrecking Mr. Harris’s life. Stinks to high heaven.

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  2. ‘Ms Levitt was said by a judge to have put enormous pressure on the police and CPS … ‘

    What does that mean? I am still surprised that people appointed to positions of importance, in which they can make decisions that could have devastating consequences for those affected, can be susceptible to ‘pressure’, (Does that mean harassment?) from those to whom they are not accountable.

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    • In this case it means that the family recruited a retired senior Police Officer to talk to the detectives working on the case and the services of Barristers from the prestigious Chambers to closely “watch over” their handling of the case. In both the far more junior people working on the case were bound to be impressed by the interventions of “Big Beasts” in their professions, who would have the “ear” of their superiors.

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