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Independent
9 March 2000

Girl goes to court over abandoned rape case

By Kim Sengupta

A schoolgirl aged 16 who was allegedly raped and sexually assaulted brought a test case at the High Court yesterday over the Crown Prosecution Service's decision to drop charges against the suspects.

The girl, who was 14 at the time of the the alleged assault, is seeking a judicial review over the failure of the Director of Public Prosecutions to consult her before abandoning proceedings against the two youths and three girls accused in connection with the allegations.

If the judicial review succeeds, it is expected to lead to landmark changes in the rights of victims of sexual assault, allowing them to question the actions of the CPS in similar cases.

The girl in this case only found out that that her alleged attackers no longer faced legal action when she saw one of them near her home in north London. He had been ordered under bail conditions to stay away from the area. The girl sought an explanation from police and the CPS on why the charges had been dropped without her knowledge, and then persuaded her parents to seek legal aid and pursue the matter through the courts.

On 14 February this year, Mr Justice Maurice Kay at the High Court gave leave for judicial review, despite warnings by lawyers representing the DPP that the judge was being invited by the girl's application to make new laws.

At yesterday's hearing, Hugh Southey, barrister for the girl, said the CPS had a duty to consult victims in such serious cases before dropping charges. He said there was a strong move towards this in law, and pointed out that Sir William Macpherson's report on the murder of Stephen Lawrence had stressed: "Victims and the victims' families should be kept informed of any decision to discontinue proceedings." Hesaid the action of the CPS was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Timothy Spencer, for the DPP, said the failure to tell the alleged victim that the charges were being dropped, and not taking her views into account, was not in violation of the CPS's code of conduct.

Mr Justice Rose and Mr Justice Alliott said they would give their decision tomorrow.

 

Independent
11 March 2000

 

Schoolgirl will fight on after rape case ruling

By Kim Sengupta and John Davison

A schoolgirl who says she was raped and sexually assaulted by a group of teenagers wept with frustration outside the High Court yesterday after losing an action that she hoped would result in the prosecution of her alleged attackers.

Despite the tears she expressed determination to continue with the legal battle, which centres on the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to drop charges against the suspects without first consulting her. The case could now go to the House of Lords or even the European Court of Human Rights.

Two senior judges ruled yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecutions was under no legal obligation at the time to consult the girl, who is aged 16. She cannot be name for legal reasons and was referred to in court as "C". But Lord Justice Rose, sitting with Mr Justice Alliott, said: "It is extremely regrettable that the applicant was not informed by the CPS or police of the decision not to proceed with her case and that she learnt of that decision by other means."

The distressed girl, who was 14 at the time of the alleged attack, was being comforted by her family and legal team after the High Court decision. "It is still worth carrying on," she said. "No one said we had much chance right at the beginning, but we have got this far and I feel I ought to carry on. One of the judges was, after all, sympathetic towards me because of the way I have been treated by the CPS."

The girl's ordeal began after she went with two girls and five boys to Tower Bridge in south-east London during a day off school. She told police that she was suddenly attacked by other members of the group, robbed of her mobile phone and money and then viciously sexually assaulted. In an attempt to escape she crawled through a hedge, but she was dragged back and assaulted again. Medical tests showed evidence of both the beating and sexual assault.

She only found out that her alleged attackers no longer faced charges when she saw one of the boys walking about near her home in north London. His bail conditions required him to stay away from the area.

"I just felt so angry about what had happened to me. My life was made hell," said the girl, who now wants to be a policewoman dealing with vulnerable young people. "The boys ... live in the same area and they go around boasting about what they have done, and there is nothing I can do about it."

Had she won her case yesterday, it would have opened the way for other victims of alleged sexual assaults and serious crimes to question CPS decisions to drop cases.

One of the grounds given by the CPS was her "inconsistency" in initially not naming one of the boys, and then making a second statement to implicate him. She says that was because she had been consistently threatened. "What annoys me is that if the matter had come to court I could have said how this particular boy was intimidating me, and explained that was the reason I did not name him at first. But this I was never allowed to," she said.

She is also angry about the effect on her schooling. "Some of those people involved were at my school, and so I have had to move to a special unit, full of kids with behavioural problems, while those who did this to me are having a normal life, a normal education," she added.

But she said she did not regret taking her case to the courts. "I never wanted any compensation, and I'm glad we took this legal action, whatever happens."

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