MPR solicitors secure acquittal on rape charges at Oxford Crown Court

This month the MPR Crown Court advocacy team secured a number of successes in the Crown Courts. Perhaps the most interesting and complex of the recent trials was the acquittal of a man charged with rape and serious sexual assault at Oxford Crown Court.  The issue was that of consent. The Defendant’s case was that the complainant had done more than just consent to the sex, she had in fact initiated it. The complainant’s case was that she had not given consent and had frozen in fear. Special measures provisions allowing the use of a screen in court, behind which she could give evidence was used.

Through skilful cross-examination of the complainant, our advocate was able to highlight significant inconsistencies in the evidence to the extent that a submission of no case to answer was made but the trial judge took the view that the trial should continue. The Defendant gave evidence which was consistent with all his previous accounts and was not contradicted by any of the prosecution evidence. Our advocate was then able to produce some CCTV clips which had been served by the Prosecution in a bundle of additional used and unused material the night before during the trial. The CCTV footage helped to prove and totally discredit the complainant’s account of what happened. As a result of this and undeterred our advocate made another submission of no case to answer and on this occasion the trial judge conceded that the evidence was too weak for a properly directed jury to convict. The trial judge directed the jury to find the Defendant not guilty and he was formally acquitted.

Meticulous case and trial preparation is key to success and had it not been for the diligent and precise in-trial preparation, the key piece of evidence could have been missed. The prosecution often use drowning tactics by serving voluminous evidence at the last minute half way through a trial which, if not properly examined at by the defence, could so easily be overlooked to the detriment of a defendant’s case. That is why it is important to have the right back-office support for trial advocates and to have confidence that your defence team will not leave any stone unturned. You can be assured that with MPR Solicitors we pride ourselves in the level of service and commitment we make to our clients’ cases. It was thanks to effortless requests for disclosure and spotting key evidence in the prosecution CCTV video clips that assisted in securing our client’s acquittal.