Chris Saltrese Solicitors offer a personalised client service that meets the individual needs of each case. Careful preparation, attention to detail and a comprehensive understanding of he parameters of each case provide the baseline for meeting the standard of representation clients have a right to expect.
Early and continuous consultation with counsel ensures client confidence at every step of the way to trial.
As a measure of our success, many cases result in pre-trial acquittals precluding the stress and risk of undergoing trial.
In other cases we have first represented on appeal. We also prepare applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission who have the power to refer cases, where warranted, back to the Court of Appeal.
Here is a sample of cases – to preserve the anonymity of clients, we have initialised cases that are not otherwise in the public domain.
Leading cases where Chris Saltrese Solicitors have represented clients include:
[su_accordion class=”cases-press”]
[su_spoiler title= “R v S Crown Court (2019) – Judge entered ‘Not Guilty’ verdict”]The defendant was a man of good character charged with historical sex offences against his biological daughter. The offences were alleged to have occurred daily and were supplemented with further allegations of rape and sexual assault by claimed associates of the defendant. The complainant’s memories first developed in mid-adolescence and continued to develop until she made her allegations to the police some 30 years later. It was clear to the defence that the complainant did not have a continuous memory of the alleged abuse and that her memories were unreliable. The defence asked the prosecution to conduct an immediate review of the case as to the reliability of the evidence. The Prosecution expert agreed with the defence that the complainant could not be regarded as a reliable witness. The prosecution withdrew the case and the defendant received a judge ordered acquittal.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v H Crown Court (2019) – Acquittal by jury”]The defendant was a young man of good character charged with rape of a woman who claimed that the offence had happened after her second date at the defendant’s home. The complainant’s medical history recorded that she suffered from extreme social anxiety with a propensity to exaggerate and ‘overthink’. The complainant described a violent rape by the defendant who denied having intercourse with the complainant at all. Defence witnesses confirmed that they had seen a video of the complainant laughing and joking with the defendant on the night in question after the alleged rape had taken place. The defendant was acquitted by the jury after just 30 minutes of deliberation.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v C Crown Court (2018) – Acquittal by jury”]The defendant was charged with offences against a distant relative said to have been committed in the 1980s. The complainant, who was of bad character with convictions for drug and dishonesty offences, had attempted to blackmail the defendant. The defendant, who was of good character, reported the blackmail attempt to the police but was himself charged with offences against the complainant. The first trial in November 2017 was abandoned after the jury had been sent out to reach their verdicts when it was discovered that a juror had carried out his own investigations at the scene of the alleged offences. The miscreant juror subsequently pleaded guilty to two offences under the Juries Act 1974.
At the retrial in the summer of 2018, the jury unanimously acquitted the defendant on all remaining counts on the indictment.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v H Crown Court (2018) – Acquittal by jury”]The defendant, a Cumbrian farmer of exceptional good character, was accused by his niece and a male neighbour of sexual offences of more than 40 years’ antiquity. Following a family fall out, the first complainant alleged she had been indecently assaulted in the family farmhouse with the second complainant making allegations of a similar nature. The defence were able to show that the complaints were not independent but had in fact been produced by police contamination and the rumour mill in a Cumbrian hamlet. The second complainant had been seriously injured in a motorbike accident when a teenager and the resulting speech and cognitive impairment meant that he had to give evidence with the assistance of an intermediary.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v B Crown Court (2018) – Acquittal by jury”]The defendant was charged with historic sexual offences against two of his half-sisters against a background of family animosity. The allegations were first aired in 2005 during a domestic dispute following which the defendant severed ties with the complainants. The defence were able to produce employment records including shift patterns showing that the defendant had little opportunity to commit the offences. Prosecution disclosure was used to undermine the complainants’ evidence and highlight flaws in the prosecution case. After just 2 hours of deliberation, the jury unanimously acquitted the defendant on all 13 counts on the indictment.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v O Crown Court (2018) – Pre-trial acquittal”]The defendant was accused of raping a woman he had met on a night out. The defence sought disclosure of CCTV, previous allegations made by the complainant and her current mobile phone records all of which significantly undermined the prosecution case. Following a defence request for review the prosecution withdrew the case and the judge entered not guilty verdicts.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v F Court of Appeal (2017) – Conviction quashed”]The defendant was convicted of historic offences when he was a child under 14 years and at a time when the doctrine of doli incapax applied. The appeal against conviction was allowed on the ground that the judge had failed to direct the jury that the presumption of incapacity could be rebutted only by evidence that the child knew what he was doing went beyond “rude or naughty” and such evidence had to be independent of the act complained of per R v M [2016] 4 WLR416[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v M Crown Court (2017) – Acquittal by jury”]A woman accused her manager of indecent assault whilst staying at a hotel overnight for business purposes. During the evening, the complainant and defendant had exchanged flirtatious texts. Later in the evening the defendant went to the complainant’s room where the defendant was knocked unconscious. The complainant later told her employer that the defendant had entered her room without her consent and had sexually assaulted her. The defendant was summarily dismissed from his employment. The matter was then reported to the police which led to a prosecution. It was the defence case that the complainant had let the defendant into her room and that there had been no sexual assault. The police were unable to recover the texts which the complainant had deleted from her phone. A defence expert recovered the deleted texts which showed that the complainant had given a misleading account to both her employer and the police. The jury acquitted the defendant, a man of good character, of both counts on the indictment.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v T Crown Court (2017) – Judge entered ‘Not Guilty’ verdict”]The defendant, a family man of good character, had his electronic devices seized by the police and was charged with making a single Category C indecent image of a child. The defence initially invited the prosecution to withdraw on the basis that it was not in the public interest to pursue the matter. The prosecution proceeded with the case and withdrew only on the first day of the trial when the prosecution expert agreed with the defence expert that the evidence suggested that image was created by the automatic process of the computer rather than the computer user. A formal not-guilty verdict was entered by the Judge.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v B Crown Court (2017) – Acquittal by jury”]The complainant was an A level student who was in a loose friendship group with the defendant, also an A level student. They had had sex after a night out with a group when she invited herself back to his house without his knowledge and they had to share a bed. The complainant subsequently reported the defendant as having sex with her when she was asleep. The defendant denied this and was able to give a detailed account what had happened consensually with her removing her skin-tight jeans to assist. He was charged with rape. The defence suspected she had memory loss of consensual acts before falling asleep as she had had a lot to drink although she was perfectly compos mentis. The prosecution agreed she had capacity on the evidence of her texting shortly before getting a taxi back to his house by herself and the complainant’s own evidence that she was not drunk. The prosecution refused to consider investigating memory loss on request by the defence. At trial the complainant admitted to previous memory blackouts when drinking even small amounts and conceded she might have consented and not remembered it and that the defendant had been a kind and popular friend who would have been unlikely to have committed the offence on the terms that would have been implied. On the evidence it would have been virtually impossible to remove the jeans without the complainant’s assistance or waking her up. The defence criticised the police for not considering memory loss. The jury acquitted unanimously in 50 minutes.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v K Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A popular care home worker was accused of years of sexual harassment by a woman co-worker after redundancy. Colleagues supported the defendant and there was no evidence in support of the accuser’s allegations. He was acquitted unanimously by the jury.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v T Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A student living with her student boyfriend pretended to be asleep to see if her boyfriend would have sex with her and then made a rape allegation. The accused was nonplussed and had known she was not asleep and ensured consent. The complainant was an aspirant beauty queen with a history of making allegations and tried to trick him into an admission on social media and by text and phone. Subsequently she attempted to contact him which would have broken his bail conditions. The defendant, of exemplary good character, was acquitted by the jury after retiring for 10 minutes.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v H Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A man was accused of a sexual assault on a niece at a New Year’s Eve party thirty years before. The allegation was made following a family dispute about a will where the accuser’s family were excluded. The accuser sought to blame a lifetime of behavioural and relationship problems on this alleged incident which appeared to the defence to have a revenge and financial motive. The defendant of good character was acquitted by the jury.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v G Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A young man with a long history of drug and alcohol abuse and suffering from epilepsy made allegations of sexual assault against a friend of his older brother when the complainant was a young child and the accused a teenager. The defendant had fallen out with the brother many years before the police report because of the brother’s drug use and the defendant had been the victim of an unprovoked physical assault by the brother. The complainant had been referred to an alternative therapist by his mother, also a therapist, because of his drug use when aged 12 and the mother subsequently sought to blame his problems on the defendant who had hardly known the complainant. The complainant’s sketchy and reluctant testimony appeared to be subject to suggestion and recovered/false memory while the mother was looking for a scapegoat for family problems. The jury acquitted unanimously.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v H Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A man accused a former teenage babysitter of sexual assaults decades before when in his care. The defendant had prospered in his life and career whereas the accuser lived beyond his means with employment and financial problems. Prior to reporting the allegations the complainant had been collecting information on the defendant’s career on social media. The accuser wove demonstrably false facts into his narrative. The jury acquitted unanimously.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v J&J Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A couple who had worked at a home for disturbed and delinquent children thirty years previously were accused of cruelty and physical assault as part of a historic investigation which revisited previous high profile investigations. They had not been previously accused and had exemplary good characters and careers in the care and welfare sectors. The allegations were bizarre and linked into demonstrably false narratives with compensation a potential motive. The defendants were acquitted of all charges by the jury unanimously. Read report here[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v S Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A retired care worker was accused by multiple complainants of physical assault and cruelty when working at a home for disturbed and delinquent children thirty years ago. The complaints were induced by a large scale historic abuse investigation which revisited previous high profile investigations. There were no contemporaneous reports and the accusers were able to draw on prior adverse publicity and social media support groups. The defence case was that neither the specific nor the specimen incidents had taken place and that a physical disability made some of the complaints impossible. Compensation was seen as a potential motive. Read report here[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v C Crown Court (2016) – Judge ordered pre-trial acquittal”]A woman with a history of mental instability accused a man of a course of conduct of rape when they were in a relationship in the 6th form many years before. The woman had many years of therapy for relationship and emotional problems stretching back to her earlier childhood prior to the relationship with the accused. The defence sought records disclosure and evidence from family members who could have certified she was happy in the relationship and upset only when he ended it. The prosecution withdrew the case on receipt of undisclosed evidence prior to trial and the defendant of good character received a judge ordered acquittal.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v L Crown Court (2016) – Acquittal by jury”]A man who had childminded a neighbour’s children when a teenager was accused of sexual offences decades later by a man who had a history of drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence. The report was made when the accuser was arrested for an unprovoked physical assault on the defendant when drunk. The family of the accuser had a history of problems and domestic abuse whereas the accused had none. There was a homophobic element in the accusation with the openly gay defendant of good character, who had no contact with the accuser since the childminding, being scapegoated for the lifestyle and personality problems of the accuser. The evidence of the premises at the time the abuse was held to have taken place was demonstrated to be wrong and there was evidence of collusion and contamination in the prosecution witnesses. The jury acquitted unanimously.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v T Crown Court (2015) – Acquittal by jury”]A complicated case where a former stepfather was accused of a course of sexual conduct including rape by a woman many years ago when she was a child and young teen. The complainant alleged she had become pregnant and had an abortion under his instruction which resulted in the mother asking him to leave. Later the family reunited for a short time with nothing said about the alleged abuse. The defendant denied ever knowing about the pregnancy or it being alleged at the time and ever having committed the alleged offences. Defence evidence demonstrated that the split occurred much later for other reasons and that the reconciliation was in good faith without any allegations of abuse. The mother of the complainant was embittered against the defendant and the fact of his current partner. The jury acquitted the defendant, of effective good character, unanimously.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v P Crown Court (2015) – Judge directed acquittal”]A man of good character was accused of rape by a girl after a one night stand. She claimed to have been ‘locked into’ the bedroom while their friends were sleeping in the room next door. There was no lock on the door and no indication of any absence of consent. The girl had a troubled background including self-diagnosis of various personality disorders and drug abuse. The prosecution withdrew the case during the trial.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v C Crown Court (2015) – Acquittal by jury”]A retired farmer was accused of historic sexual offences by a serving police officer. The complainant had a history of problems to do with his marriage and mental health unrelated to the defendant. The defendant, of exemplary good character, was acquitted unanimously by the jury.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v G Crown Court (2014) – Judge ordered pre-trial acquittal”]A 16-year-old boy of good character was accused of a course of sexual conduct and rape against his younger half-sister some years before. The complainant made the accusation when confronted about sexting a boy. The defence provided evidence of unreliability of the complainant and a possible false allegation against someone else. The prosecution withdrew from the case before the trial with the judge ordering a full acquittal.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title= “R v P Crown Court (2014) – Acquittal by jury”]An Army officer of good character on leave from Afghanistan was accused of rape after a one night stand with a night club acquaintance. He was acquitted by the jury unanimously at trial. CCTV footage in the club and street indicated the complainant was flirtatious and a willing partner, and mobile phone evidence indicated she had given him her number and he had contacted her the following day.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v A Crown Court (2014) – Pre-trial acquittal”]Two sisters accused a family member of historical abuse. One complainant had been in therapy for ‘dissociative identity disorder’ where she adopted different personas and made progressive allegations against others. The other complainant had been in therapy and had ‘recovered memories’ documented in notes and diaries. The Crown withdrew the DID complainant evidence following consideration of defence expert opinion. At a subsequent hearing the judge ruled the second complainant’s evidence inadmissible because it was unreliable by virtue of its provenance.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v W Crown Court (2013) – Acquittal by jury”]A mother made allegations concerning the defendant’s daughter during an acrimonious contact dispute. When videoed the child denied any assaults. Contact was terminated by social services but the father appealed the decision and won. The mother refused to accede and continued to put pressure on the child to make allegations. Eventually a fresh police report was made with bizarre claims. Despite the absence of credible claims, charges were brought. The jury acquitted and the father was allowed to return to live with his new wife and child.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v K Crown Court (2012) – Case dismissed pre-trial”]The complainant was a 16 year old girl who had been sent by her mother to work at a hotel run by a relative for the summer. Six months after she had left an allegation of rape by the relative was made. The incident turned on a night when she was drunk and he woke up to find her making sexual overtures to her from which he desisted. Afterwards she refused to talk about it and pretended it had not happened. It turned out that the girl had a history of out of control sexual behaviour and alcohol abuse. The investigating officer was found to have engaged in a long series of emails with the mother which had contaminated the evidence prejudicing the investigation and the fairness of a trial. The prosecution withdrew before trial. As no plea had been entered the case was formally dismissed by the judge.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v T Crown Court (2012) – Judge-ordered acquittal”]The complainant was a middle aged woman who got very drunk at a family reunion. She claimed that a relative at whose house she had stayed had subsequently raped her when she was unconscious as she had only a trace memory of events. She said that she would not and could not have consented, had no sexual attraction to the defendant and had not flirted with him. The defendant was arrested and denied rape. He said that the complainant had initiated sexual contact with him and consciously and enthusiastically engaged in sexual intercourse. The defence sought expert opinion which supported the contention that the complainant had an alcoholic blackout for conscious voluntary actions she would otherwise not engage in due to the disinhibiting affect of excess alcohol and its effect on memory recall. CCTV footage revealed that the complainant had been making sexual advances to the defendant during the social evening. The prosecution withdrew before trial. A formal not-guilty verdict was recorded with costs awarded to the defendant. A further order was made that the allegations should not prejudice employment or CRB requirements.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v W Crown Court (2012) Permanent stay – abuse of process”]The complainant made historical allegations that the defendant had sexually abused her when he babysat when she was aged 4-6 and he 12-14. This was in the early 1980s. The defendant denied the allegations. The complainant had a history of chronic epilepsy, which potentially affected her reliability, and had an adult history of relationship, depression and financial problems. The defence argued the charges at that time could not be brought against a defendant under 14 unless the prosecution rebutted the presumption of doli incapax – incapability of criminal intention. An abuse of process delay argument as to the doli point and inability to test the evidence succeeded. The case was given a permanent stay of execution with costs awarded to the defendant.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v C Crown Court (2012) – Judge-ordered acquittal”]The defendant was arrested and his computers seized as part of an internet child pornography investigation stemming from an investigation by the Luxembourg police and Interpol. This had collected thousands of IP addresses allegedly accessing a website containing child pornography. The defendant had been a frequent browser of adult ‘free-to-view’ entertainment but denied knowledge or intention of downloading illegal child images. The defence requested disclosure of information about the Luxembourg investigation but only received a hearsay statement. All reconstructed ‘recovered’ illegal images on the hard drive were from a deleted ‘unallocated clusters’ source. Pre-trial it was argued that the hearsay evidence was inadmissible and that the evidence on the hard drive could not be shown to be intentionally downloaded. A demonstration by the defence expert to the prosecution expert was set up to show that material could be downloaded automatically by a browser, under certain conditions, and that the prosecution could not prove that this had not happened in the instant case. The prosecution expert concurred and the Crown withdrew. A formal not-guilty verdict was recorded with costs awarded to the defendant.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v R Crown Court (2012) – Judge-ordered acquittal”]A prolific young offender, who faced the prospect of a custodial sentence for the first time, made allegations of years of rape by a former family friend. The complainant was in touch with the defendant’s step-sister and this prompted allegations concerning her son when he was aged four and five and had been left with the defendant by the sister because she was not fit to look after him. The defendant denied the allegations. The defence obtained disclosure of all social service, medical and probation records – which were voluminous. The prosecution eventually withdrew before trial and a formal not guilty verdict was entered.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v S Crown Court (2012) – Full acquittal by jury”]A father was accused by his adult daughter of several years of rape and abuse when she was a teenager in the 1980s. She had a troubled history following the death of her mother from cancer and resented the defendant’s remarriage. The complainant was pressed into the report to the police through misinformation about the credibility of a previous false allegation by an adult girl fostered by the defendant’s wife. The complainant’s evidence was a factually weak but emotive narrative. Other family members contradicted her claims. After a two week trial, the jury acquitted unanimously on all counts and the defendant was awarded costs out of central funds.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v G Crown Court (2012) – Judge-ordered acquittal”]Historical allegations by three related women allegedly committed in the 1950s against an elderly man of good character who was a teenager at the relevant time. He denied the allegations. The evidence was contaminated between the complainants and there were major flaws in the evidence. The case was transferred to the Crown Court for trial but the prosecution withdrew shortly afterwards. A formal not guilty verdict was recorded.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v G Crown Court (2012) – Judge-ordered acquittal”]A professional family of Indian origin employed a nanny to look after their baby at their home where both parents worked. Three weeks later the nanny left to go to the supermarket and did not return. When contacted by text she claimed to the wife she had left because of her husband’s conduct. The same evening, the nanny, the complainant, took the text to the police and another she had sent to her boyfriend shortly before claiming the husband had kissed her. The defendant was arrested in the middle of the night and told the police that nothing inappropriate had happened but she had disappeared after he had an argument with her about time off. The prosecution evidence indicated that the complainant was unreliable. The defence pressed for disclosure of further texts, medical records and the complainant’s employment history and criticised the competence of the police investigation. Prior to further disclosure the prosecution decided to offer no evidence. A formal not guilty verdict was recorded and the defendant was awarded costs out of central funds. There was also a wasted costs order against the prosecution for a previous hearing. A subsequent police complaint upheld criticism of the investigating officer in not carrying out a thorough investigation of the claims.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v T Crown Court – Judge-ordered acquittal”]A girl accused an occasional family friend of sexual touching when he was fixing the family computer. No allegation was made at the time. The defendant, of good character, denied the allegation and that she was with him when he was checking the machine. Following the charge the defence were notified that the complainant had now remembered other alleged incidents. The prosecution withdrew shortly afterwards without further disclosure. A formal not-guilty verdict was recorded with costs awarded to the defendant.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v RP Court of Appeal (2011) EWCA 1764 – Conviction quashed”]Historical allegations of sexual offences by two sisters against a father. The allegations were made after a brother had visited a clairvoyant who said two sisters were abused. The complaints were bizarre and extreme within a background of alleged extreme physical abuse. The defence case was that none of the allegations were true and that the complainants were motivated by malice through acrimonious family disputes. The appellant received negative advice from trial counsel and the case was reviewed by Chris Saltrese Solicitors Leave was given for appeal outside time with fresh counsel. The conviction was quashed because of the one-sided summing–up and deficient directions on delay, background evidence, contamination and collusion. A re-trial was ordered though the lead complainant had since died from a drug overdose. The prosecution subsequently withdrew. The judgment can be viewed here.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v W Crown Court (2011) – Judge-ordered acquittal”]The complainant alleged years of rape and sexual abuse by her step-father, the defendant, in her teenage years. She had a history of relationship breakdowns and problems with her children. She had originally made an allegation and withdrawn it when her behaviour deteriorated. She revived it when under pressure because of a potential prosecution of herself and her husband for making obscene videos. The defendant denied the allegations. The complainant had a disturbed early childhood before the defendant had known her, but projected all her problems onto the allegations against the defendant. The allegations were graphic but lacked contextual reality. The defence pressed for disclosure of records and a previous decision not to prosecute. The Crown withdrew before trial citing material coming to light that would make a conviction unlikely. A formal not guilty verdict was recorded and the defendant was awarded costs out of central funds.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v B Crown Court (2011) – Judge-ordered acquittal”]The complainant was a woman who had been estranged from her father, the defendant, since childhood in the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce and contact dispute. At that time, in the late 1980s the mother claimed the daughter, then aged 4, had made an allegation of sexual abuse and used it to restrict access in the custody dispute. For some years the daughter continued to see her father to whom she had been very attached. She had no memory of the allegation. In her late teenage years the daughter suffered a mental breakdown. Her mother, who had continued to be implacably hostile to her ex-husband, told her about the alleged abuse and this was then ‘adopted’ by the daughter further influencing emotional disturbance and many years of therapy. She reported the alleged abuse when 4 to the police in 2008, drawing on documents the mother had kept from the original allegation. Social services and medical records revealed the manipulative effect of the mother’s intervention over many years. The defendant denied the allegations. A defence application to stay the prosecution succeeded as an abuse of process because of contamination. A formal not guilty verdict was recorded and the defendant was awarded costs out of central funds.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v E (2011) Court of Appeal – conviction quashed”]A rape conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal on unopposed fresh expert evidence which negated the DNA evidence as supportive. The Court of Appeal commended Chris Saltrese Solicitors for the assiduous work on the case. See judgment and Inside Time article.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v A (2010) Court of Appeal – conviction quashed”]A referral by the CCRC on fresh medical evidence unopposed by the Crown. Two complainants aged 11 and 12 had made allegations, including full intercourse, against a baby-sitter. Medical examinations for the Crown were said to support the evidence. The defence at trial in 1999 did not contest this stating that they accepted that abuse must have occurred, but that it was somebody else. On application to the CCRC the medical evidence was examined by gynaecologist Dr Mary Pillai who said that the signs and symptoms relied on by the Crown were no longer accepted as reliable indicators of sexual offences. The Court of Appeal accepted this as fresh evidence unavailable at trial and quashed the conviction.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v R (2010) Crown Court – Judge directed acquittal and stay”]The defendant was a former approved school house and scout master accused of sexual offences in the 1960s and 70s. Two complainants were at the school and another came forward to his probation officer following publicity about the case in the media. The defendant was known locally and nationally because of his conviction on a guilty plea for offences against two youths outside his professional remit in the 1980s when he was a social services director. The current complaints had not been made until decades years later. They were tendered in the knowledge of the previous conviction by men with a history of unreliability whose problems pre-dated any contact with the defendant. Having heard the prosecution evidence, the defence renewed an abuse of process argument that a fair trial was not possible which was granted by the judge. The inordinate delay, defects in the police investigation, publicity and a solicitor’s website calling for victims of the defendant to get in touch to claim large compensation awards were cited in support. See news report here[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v G (2010) Crown Court – acquittal”]The complainant was an unhappy young woman with a disturbed childhood who had recently entered into a relationship with a former teenage acquaintance. When he threatened to end the relationship because of her erratic behaviour, the matter of her previously claiming to have had a sexual relationship with a neighbour when 15 arose. This led to a police report with her claiming this had ruined her life, while the current relationship was back up and running. The defendant, who had moved many years before, was an attractive and happy family man of good character whom the girl had known through the wife and helping with the young children. The girl had been prone to fantasy and had had a crush on the defendant. The defence case was that the complainant, prompted by her desire to keep the current partner, had revived the boastful teenage fantasy under his prompt and had heuristically adopted the abuse victim role. Defence evidence established that much of what was claimed could not have happened and that the current partner was an innocent dupe in believing the tale.
The jury acquitted.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v A (2010) Crown Court – Judge directed acquittal”]Two sisters in their twenties made allegations against a former partner of their mother. One sister had a history of severe psychological problems and both had a disturbed childhood unrelated to the defendant who was a children’s home manager of good character. The allegations were mutually contaminated ‘recovered memories’ though they had no recall of a genuine incident of abuse by an offender that was contemporaneously reported by the victims at the time. On analysing the case it was seen that one complainant had kick-started her memories following a visit to a chiropractor with unorthodox methods and diagnosis. The defence commissioned a critical psychiatric opinion on this and following a further statement in response from the chiropractor the prosecution withdrew its evidence. The judge directed a full acquittal.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v H (2010) Crown Court – acquittal”]A blind musician was accused by a former family friend of sexual allegations dating back 20 years. The complainant had a long history of serious drug addiction and a personality disorder. A psychiatric opinion was given at trial on the causes of the complainant’s personality disorder. The defendant was unanimously acquitted of all charges by the jury.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v B (2009) Crown Court – judge directed acquittal”]Two sisters, with a history of childhood family tragedy and psychological problems, made sexual allegations against a former neighbour and family friend relating to 25 years ago. The defendant was a professional family man of exemplary good character. Following a submission on delay and statutory contamination between the sisters’ accounts after the prosecution case, he was acquitted by direction of the judge and awarded costs.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v CT (2009) Crown Court – judge-directed acquittal”]Allegations of indecent assault were made against a former youth leader at a residential camp taking place nearly thirty years ago. The male complainant, who was of high intelligence, had a history of family and psychological problems in his childhood and adult life. The investigating police officer was severely reprimanded by the trial judge for failing to make sufficient inquiries. The defendant, a family man of exemplary good character and public service, was acquitted by the judge following the hearing of the prosecution case on the grounds of no case to answer and was awarded costs.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v A (2010) Crown Court – Judge directed acquittal”]Two sisters in their twenties made allegations against a former partner of their mother. One sister had a history of severe psychological problems and both had a disturbed childhood unrelated to the defendant who was a children’s home manager of good character. The allegations were mutually contaminated ‘recovered memories’ though they had no recall of a genuine incident of abuse by an offender that was contemporaneously reported by the victims at the time. On analysing the case it was seen that one complainant had kick-started her memories following a visit to a chiropractor with unorthodox methods and diagnosis. The defence commissioned a critical psychiatric opinion on this and following a further statement in response from the chiropractor the prosecution withdrew its evidence. The judge directed a full acquittal.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v H (2010) Crown Court – acquittal”]A blind musician was accused by a former family friend of sexual allegations dating back 20 years. The complainant had a long history of serious drug addiction and a personality disorder. A psychiatric opinion was given at trial on the causes of the complainant’s personality disorder. The defendant was unanimously acquitted of all charges by the jury.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v B (2009) Crown Court – judge directed acquittal”]Two sisters, with a history of childhood family tragedy and psychological problems, made sexual allegations against a former neighbour and family friend relating to 25 years ago. The defendant was a professional family man of exemplary good character. Following a submission on delay and statutory contamination between the sisters’ accounts after the prosecution case, he was acquitted by direction of the judge and awarded costs.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v CT (2009) Crown Court – judge-directed acquittal”]Allegations of indecent assault were made against a former youth leader at a residential camp taking place nearly thirty years ago. The male complainant, who was of high intelligence, had a history of family and psychological problems in his childhood and adult life. The investigating police officer was severely reprimanded by the trial judge for failing to make sufficient inquiries. The defendant, a family man of exemplary good character and public service, was acquitted by the judge following the hearing of the prosecution case on the grounds of no case to answer and was awarded costs.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v A (2010) Crown Court – Judge directed acquittal”]Two sisters in their twenties made allegations against a former partner of their mother. One sister had a history of severe psychological problems and both had a disturbed childhood unrelated to the defendant who was a children’s home manager of good character. The allegations were mutually contaminated ‘recovered memories’ though they had no recall of a genuine incident of abuse by an offender that was contemporaneously reported by the victims at the time. On analysing the case it was seen that one complainant had kick-started her memories following a visit to a chiropractor with unorthodox methods and diagnosis. The defence commissioned a critical psychiatric opinion on this and following a further statement in response from the chiropractor the prosecution withdrew its evidence. The judge directed a full acquittal.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v K (2008) Crown Court – acquittal”]Historic allegation of rape by ex-sister-in-law following the defendant’s divorce. The case went to trial and resulted in an acquittal by unanimous verdict.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v H (2008) Crown Court – pre-trial acquittal”]Accusations by two unstable cousins with the same therapist against an uncle when he was in his teens. Many of the allegations were alleged to have occurred when the defendant was below the legal age for prosecution. Complex analysis and legal argument resulted in the withdrawal of the prosecution pre-trial.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v P (2008) Crown Court – pre-trial acquittal”]A historic children’s home case involving allegations of abuse in the 1960s at an approved school. The defendant, a man of unblemished exemplary character, was finally acquitted pre-trial after extended delays by the police and prosecution following the submission of legal argument by the defence.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v T (2007) Crown Court – pre-trial acquittal”]A father was accused by his adult daughter who was undergoing counselling for a marriage breakdown. We represented the defendant at the original case in 1999 where the Crown withdrew the charges. Some years later, the accuser’s daughter, the client’s granddaughter, was led to make an allegation though she had been mortified when her mother’s allegations had cut her off from her grandfather in the years gone by. With little to go on, the Crown attempted to introduce the daughter’s allegations as supportive evidence under the new rules in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. We prepared detailed legal submissions with counsel and obtained extensive disclosure undermining the prosecution. The Crown was forced to withdraw the case with the client receiving a full acquittal[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v B (2007) Court of Appeal – Conviction quashed.”]B was accused by an adult daughter after a property dispute. The twelve year old daughter of a former partner who lived opposite the main accuser also made allegations of abuse aged 3 despite having previously denied abuse during a previous unrelated child protection investigation. Leave to appeal was granted out of time and the conviction quashed by the full court.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R (on application by John Douglas Pinnington) v the Chief Constable of Thames Valley (2008) Queen’s Bench Division (Admin)”]Leading case on the criteria for enhanced criminal records information by the police. See comment and press below:
Press statement
The Register
Daily Mail
Sunday Telegraph[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v D (2007) Court of Appeal Criminal Division”]Uncorroborated historic allegations of rape and other offences made against a man of exemplary character by a former neighbour from a broken home with a long history of psycho-social problems. Disclosure of medical and counselling records had been refused by the prosecution at trial. We were first instructed following conviction and the Court of Appeal ordered disclosure of records which led to the conviction being quashed. A retrial was requested by the prosecution and a leading psychiatrist and psychologist undermined the reliability of the complainant. Sadly the client passed away prior to the onset of trial. Permission to publish the Court of Appeal judgment is still pending.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v T (2007) Court of appeal – conviction quashed”]An unmarried man in his 40s was accused by a relative’s son with a history of drug and alcohol problems. Friends of the accuser joined in to make marginal claims with rumour playing a potent rule in a close knit rural community. Convicted at a second trial after the first ended with a hung jury, the appellant instructed us to review his case having been told there were no grounds for appeal. We obtained the judge’s summing up and identified potentially serious shortcomings in directions on contamination and good character and the hearsay rules of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Leave to appeal was granted on renewed application by counsel to the full court and the conviction was overturned at the full hearing.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v W (2006) Crown Court – pre-trial acquittal”]A 56-year-old woman made allegations out of the blue against a stepfather of good character in his 70s of offences 45 years ago. The complainant had a long and obscure history of psycho-social problems stretching back to circumstances before the accused joined the family and there were suggestions of a financial motive. We sought complete disclosure of records and the case, put back a number of times due to the complainant’s reticence, eventually collapsed pre-trial with a full acquittal.[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v Chapman (2006) EWCA Crim 1656″]Misdirection on delay and good character.
Conviction quashed. No re-trial.
Read transcript……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v Warren (2005) EWCA Crim”]Rape conviction quashed on new evidence of unreliability of accuser former girlfriend.
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v Meanwell (2004) Birmingham Crown Court”]Historic care home ‘trawl’ case against headmaster stayed before trial on abuse of process.
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”R v Williams-Rigby (2003) EWCA Crim 693″]Former teacher in care home trawl case overturned on appeal
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”‘Our marriage survived a nightmare ordeal’ real life story from Woman and Home”]Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Criminal appeal system”]Article by Chris Saltrese from Inside Time
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Ganging up on Asians”]Article by Margaret Jervis and Chris Saltrese
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Child pornography: computer convictions”]Article by Chris Saltrese from Inside Time
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”The ghost in the machine: abuse trials and profile evidence”]Article by Margaret Jervis and Chris Saltrese from Inside Time
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Under the guise of science”]Article by Margaret Jervis, Oliver Cyriax and Chris Saltrese from Inside Time
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee”]Oral evidence of Chris Saltrese
Full report
The Conduct of Investigations into Past Cases of Abuse in Children’s Homes[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Dangerous Convictions”]Article by Margaret Jervis and Chris Saltrese from Inside Time
Read here……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Response to Home Office Consultation on rape trial proposals”]Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[su_spoiler title=”Memory, Make-Believe and the Courts”]Article by Margaret Jervis and Chris Saltrese from Inside Time
Read More……..[/su_spoiler]
[/su_accordion]