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Rape conviction review will only examine a fifth of cases

The Criminal Cases Review Commission is carrying out a review into rape convictions - PA
The Criminal Cases Review Commission is carrying out a review into rape convictions - PA

A major review into rape convictions, ordered in the wake of last year's disclosure scandal, will only examine a fraction of the cases where a miscarriage of justice may have occurred, the Telegraph has learned.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) recently announced it would be revisiting 306 convictions on its books to identify if vital evidence had been missed during the original trial.

Concerns were raised about the safety of hundreds of rape convictions following the collapse of a series of high profile cases, when it emerged that the police and prosecutors had failed to disclose vital evidence that proved the defendant's innocence.

The vast amount of digital data, including text messages and photographs, that is now stored on mobile devices, means investigators have to spend many hours ensuring they have identified all the evidence that is relevant.

In December a judge halted the trial of student, Liam Allen, 22, after it emerged that his accuser had bombarded friends with hundreds of messages setting out her rape fantasies.

Liam Allan was accused of rape but the case collapsed due to disclosure issues - Credit: REX/Shutterstock
Liam Allan was accused of rape but the case collapsed due to disclosure issues Credit: REX/Shutterstock

As well as an urgent review by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)into live cases, the CCRC - the public body responsible for identifying miscarriages of justice - announced it would also be looking in detail at all 306 rape cases referred to it between April 2016 and March this year.

Announcing the review in July, Richard Foster, the chair of the CCRC, said: "We believe the public needs to be assured that disclosure in past criminal cases – as well as in live prosecutions and future criminal proceedings – can stand up to scrutiny."

But an internal memo obtained under the Freedom of Information Act has revealed that rather that examining all 306 cases in detail, only 61 will be explored in depth.

Following an initial review, a 20 per cent sample of the cases will then be selected at random, with investigators going through the police and CPS files in detail to see if there is any evidence that renders the conviction unsafe. 

But legal campaigners have warned that only examining a fraction of the cases means they are in danger of only identifying a fraction of the problem.

Emily Bolton, Legal Director of law charity the Centre for Criminal Appeals, said selecting cases at random for review was completely inadequate and risked miscarriages of justice going undetected.

She said: "If the CCRC only bothers to access and review the police and prosecution files in 20 per cent of these cases, there’s no way they’ll uncover the true scale of the problem.

“Time and time again, the CCRC refuses to review all the police files in cases because it says doing so would be 'disproportionate'. 

"Try telling that to an innocent person who is languishing in prison because of disclosure failings, whose only hope of getting justice is through hidden evidence being uncovered.

“The CCRC must start conducting comprehensive investigations, or at least demand extra resources to do so. 

"Until then, miscarriages of justice will go undetected and public confidence in our justice system will continue to decline.“ 

Sam Armstrong was cleared of rape in December 2017 and has called for anonymity for those accused
Sam Armstrong was cleared of rape in December 2017 and has called for anonymity for those accused

Samuel Armstrong, a former aide to a Tory MP, who was cleared of raping a Commons worker last year, said his case had been hampered by the late disclosure of crucial evidence.

Mr Armstrong said: “We know that the organisation is underfunded but the disclosure regime was so chaotic over recent years that there are undoubtedly innocent men languishing in jail. 

"For every Liam Allan style near-miss there may well be an identical case with a different outcome. 

"Recent CPS failures were so catastrophic that a top to bottom review, not a statistical exercise, is what’s needed."

Explaining why a random selection was being chosen for the review, a CCRC spokesman said: "We used our knowledge and experience of the justice system and of disclosure issues in particular to design the two stage review process looking a defined sample of cases.

"A targeted approach like this is the only viable way to begin such a piece of work.  As things stand, the two phases of the review are going to take a number of months to complete. If what we find in any way suggests that there is a need to revisit the criteria or the approach, we will do so."