Sexual Assault dropped Police Station 2023

We represented a youth at BREWERY Road Police Station who had been interviewed for sexual touching. With effective and professional representation, the matter was No Further Action.  The evidence initially presented by the Police, asserted our client allegedly communicated with the complainant through snapchat, forcing her to meet up and engage in sexual activity.

For our client to be found guilty of Sexual Touching, Section 3 the prosecution would have to prove he intentionally touched the complainant sexually without her consent. The client denied the allegation stating, that all sexual engagement was consensual. Our client was advised to provide a full account during the police interview of what occurred to avoid any negative inferences being drawn against him.

All aspects of the case were scrutinised and reviewed, which lead to our team going over snap chat conversations the police failed to obtain from the client. The conversations in question revealed and supported the defence that the complainant was not forced to engage in sexual activity and did so of her own free will.

 It is important to note that sexual activity or sexual touching between children under the age of 16 is also a criminal offence. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 it is explained as follows:

Whilst the Sexual Offences Act 2003 recognises that mutually agreed, non-exploitative sexual activity between teenagers does take place and that often no harm comes from it, any sexual activity between an adult and a young person under 16 is a criminal offence. This acknowledges that this group of young people are still vulnerable, even when they do not view themselves as such.

Based on the above legislation, our legal representative had to be mindful of the possibility of our client being charged for this offence however, it is rare that children under 16 are prosecuted for such offences. This is due to it not being in the interest of the public to prosecute. Factors the Crown prosecution takes into consideration are the age of the minors, the nature of their relationship, and whether there were any aggravating factors involved.

Representations were made in respect of our client's case, arguing that the evidence provided by the client clearly highlighted that the offence of Sexual touching did not occur. As a result of this, the Police came to the decision to not take the matter any further. It was not in the public’s interest to prosecute our client for sexual touching under the age of 16 as both parties were of similar ages.

As a Criminal Defence Law firm, we take pride in representing our clients especially those who are vulnerable such as Youths.