The Guardian view on rape and the police: justice first | Editorial
The Metropolitan police are reviewing 30 pending rape prosecutions in London after two cases collapsed because of a failure to disclose evidence that would have helped the defence in a timely manner. On Tuesday, the case against 25-year-old Isaac Itiary, charged with the rape of a child under 16, collapsed. A week ago, all charges against 22-year-old Liam Allan were dropped. He had been on bail for two years facing a dozen charges of rape and sexual assault. Both young men have endured the life-changing experience of being charged with a terrible crime that they did not commit, that carried the threat of a long prison sentence.
Neither of these cases should ever have happened. In July, at just the time Mr Itiary was charged, a joint review by the inspectorates of the Crown Prosecution Service and the police issued the bluntest of warnings: both process and culture relating to disclosure were so severely flawed as to jeopardise the likelihood of a fair trial. In other words, a disaster was waiting to happen. Now it has.
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