Not Guilty Historic Rape - Newcastle upon Tyne Crown Court 2022

We acted for a defendant charged with 5 counts of historic rape allegations against his daughter going back over a decade. Our client vigorously denied the allegations. The case was prepared by us and we obtained detailed disclosure from the prosecution (including disclosure from family proceedings which proved crucial in this case as this undermined the prosecution evidence). We prepared the case thoroughly for trial. The motive for the false allegations was a break up of our client’s relationship with the complainant‘s mother (our client’s ex-partner) and the announcement of moving in with a new partner and her pregnancy. We uncovered vital evidence about the complainant having been influenced by her mother and cajoled into making these very serious allegations. Untruths and inconsistencies in the complainant‘s version of events were expertly exposed during the course of questioning. The jury retired for 5 hours and unanimously acquitted our client of all charges. We appointed a specialist barrister at the outset with expert knowledge of these cases to secure this outcome.