A piece by David Brown and Frances Gibb in today’s Times, emphases ours:
The trial of a man accused of rape collapsed yesterday after it was revealed that police had failed to investigate messages which showed that the encounter was a consensual one-night stand.
Christopher Penniall spent 16 months on bail before the prosecution case was dropped on what would have been the opening day of his trial.
Judge Christopher Kinch said that the case highlighted the importance of police pursuing lines of inquiry raised by those who have been accused of crimes.
Some of Britain’s leading criminal solicitors and barristers are calling today for Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, to extend the present review into failings by police and prosecutors to disclose evidence. In a letter to The Times, they question why an inquiry by the Crown Prosecution Service and Metropolitan Police into live rape and sexual assault cases, “is not being extended to other kinds of cases that might be equally affected by non-disclosure of material”.
In the letter the lawyers say that “the system of disclosure, particularly as it relates to electronic media, has long been unfit for purpose”. They also question whether the inquiry will examine all electronic evidence held by the police.
The Met is reviewing 600 cases of rape and sexual assault that are awaiting trial in London while the CPS is reviewing thousands of cases nationally after the collapse of several trials when evidence crucial to the defence came to light at the last minute.
Richard Foster, chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, said that one in five cases it referred back to the Court of Appeal as suspected wrongful convictions involved failings in disclosure — this amounted to hundreds of cases over the years.
Woolwich crown court was told that Mr Penniall, 43, from southeast London, co-operated fully with police when he was arrested after the allegations in September 2016. He gave officers his mobile telephone and login details for his Facebook account, which he said contained messages that proved he had consensual sex with the complainant.
However, messages deleted by the alleged victim, which supported his account, were downloaded by police from her phone only after requests by defence lawyers two weeks ago, the court was told.
Hugh French, for the prosecution, said that after a review of the downloads, and a fresh interview with the alleged victim, it had been decided to drop the case because there was no longer a realistic prospect of a conviction. Judge Kinch said that the problems with disclosing evidence useful to defendants was “a big issue that has been thrown sharply into focus”.
He praised the prosecutors for dropping the case after the new evidence emerged but questioned why police had not obtained the deleted messages earlier.
“This case just highlights the importance of the police pursuing full telephone downloads where they are clearly central to the allegations being made and the defence being made,” he said. He added that the decision to drop the case was an “entirely appropriate and a proper decision . . . made with a diligent assessment of the evidence”.
Chetna Patel, the defence barrister, said outside court: “This case highlights the importance of police pursuing full telephone downloads which are central to the allegations being made.”
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Justice for Men & Boys 
I know this is slightly off topic but I’ve just read William Collins’ Introduction to the Disadvantages faced by Men and Boys’ – something I should have done a long time ago.
It plainly paints a picture of a UK, and the western world generally, that is in the process of slowly collapsing. It is only the resilence of capitalism that is keeping the show on the road – for now.
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I think you are right dear Vasubandhu.
Which can only mean that the collapse of ‘capitalism’ is the whole idea and purpose.
I shall not live long enough now to see more than the beginnings of it, but those who are young now, or as yet unborn will have a Soviet / North Korea style nightmare future in store for them.
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Thank you for your kind words Slowcoach. However I do not expect history to be a simple extrapolation of current trends. Things could reverse. If things were nice and simple then that gentleman who predicted at the end of the 19th century that London would be buried in horse dung soon would have been proven correct.
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One can only hope the “alleged victim” will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. True justice would be for her to serve the sentence she sought for him.
It’s certainly providing a fascinating insight into rape allegations and the ‘guilty until they prove themselves innocent’ approach of the CPS . Evidently a lot of women aren’t above crying wolf, which should be taken into account when investigating future rape allegations.
I’m astonished to read that Alison Saunders is married and has two sons. All three have my deepest sympathies. Presumably that state of affairs is a product of one of the “drunken sexual encounters” she is seeking to criminalise. She’s living proof that there ARE worse things than being locked up behind bars.
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Churchill’s famous remark that ‘if I were your husband I’d drink it’ comes to mind.
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So, will his false accuser face charges of tampering/withholding evidence on top of wasting police tine, after she tortured this man for nearly a year and a half (I am joking here, I know she won’t face shit)?
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She has a vagina hence, the answer is no…
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