Unan Choudhury represented a client of good character, who faced 4 allegations of sexual penetrative activity made by a very vulnerable Complainant who suffers from a mental disorder.
The CPS alleged that the Complainant’s mental disorder precluded her from being able to give consent to sexual activity.
The Crowns case relied upon the report of their expert, a psychiatrist, who concluded that because the Complainant’s IQ was below that of an average 13 year old, she would not have any understanding of consent or contraception.
Unan instructed a leading Consultant Psychologist to prepare an independent report on behalf of his client, noting that the CPS expert had not taken into account the Complainant’s interview with police, known as an ABE (assisting best evidence). During that interview with police, it was apparent that the Complainant did understand the concept of consent and knew what contraception was. She recognised what a condom was, and stated that one was used when she was with our client. This contrasted with the interview completed by the Crowns psychiatrist in the presence of the Complainant’s mother. Our expert concluded that the Crowns expert had not seen nor taken into account the ABE interview, and that it was very likely that the Complainant was embarrassed and hindered by the presence of her mother during the interview with the Crowns expert. Our defence expert concluded that this was a fundamental weakness within the Crowns report.
These issues were brought to the attention of the Trial Judge, who was sufficiently concerned and ordered that the Crowns expert reassess his report in light of our expert’s conclusions. This was done, and the CPS expert concluded after his reassessment that he could not conclude any longer that the Complainant could not consent because of her mental disorder.
As a result the CPS decided not to proceed with the prosecution, ending a lengthy and stressful ordeal for our client.
This is yet another example of the detailed, cutting edge, thorough defence work that we pride ourselves in, ‘leaving no stone unturned’, while instructing the very best defence experts.