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The Crown Prosecution Service are failing in their duties to filter out weak cases. The result is a nightmare for both the falsely accused and those making a complaint.
- May 7, 2025
- Latest News
Reeds Solicitors (Reeds) Senior Partner and Head of Private Crime, Stuart Matthews and Eleanor Laws KC successfully achieved ‘not guilty’ verdicts in two rape trials over two weeks. These cases are a good example of a clear trend in the charging of demonstrably weak cases. Prosecutors must only start or continue a prosecution when the case has passed both stages of the Full Code Test, which has two stages: i) the evidential stage; followed by ii) the public interest stage. Neither of these cases should have passed the evidential stage. The Crown Prosecution Service is failing to make sensible decisions when assessing this test, leading to weak cases proceeding to trial, causing irrevocable damage to those accused.
The first trial was of a man prosecuted for the second time as a result of false allegations made by his ex-partner. First accused of assault after asking for a divorce, he was quickly acquitted by a jury following trial. The complainant made an allegation of rape after the acquittal. A further trial in the same court followed two years later, and he was again acquitted. Poor CPS decision making ruined 5 years of our client’s life.
The second trial was of a university student alleged to have raped another student. This was another demonstrably weak case which should never have been prosecuted. When cross-examined by Eleanor Laws KC, the complainant fairly accepted that she wasn’t sure if there had been any intercourse without her consent, a position obvious from the start. The prosecution quickly dropped the case after the cross-examination. What should have been some of the best years of our client’s life were needlessly destroyed.
Stuart Matthews specialises in defending sexual offence cases. He has dealt with some of the most high-profile sexual offence cases in the UK’s history including Operation Bullfinch, Operation Nautical and R V Bennell.
Eleanor Laws KC of QEB Hollis Whiteman is the most preeminent sexual offence barrister in the country. Her clients have included Adam Johnson, Bejamin Mendy and Johnny Depp.
Matthews said of the recent results: “It is quite clear that neither case should have been prosecuted. We need to see greater case scrutiny and robust decision-making by the police and CPS to prevent the pointless prosecution of demonstrably weak cases. The UK has a very serious backlog of cases and yet we repeatedly see the prosecution of weak cases with inadequate police investigation. This is unfair on both those wrongly accused and on complainants who must then endure the difficult experience of a trial and, if unlucky, find themselves being cross-examined by an exceptional barrister.”
He added: “There is no doubt that Eleanor and I make a great team. Our strengths as lawyers complement one another and we trust each other to do everything we can for our clients to achieve the best outcome. I am delighted that in both cases we were able to get justice for our clients”.
The results come after several other sexual offence trial successes in the firm. Lucy Tapper, Senior Associate and barrister at Reeds, secured a not-guilty verdict for a man accused of sexually touching his stepdaughter. Tapper insisted on the download of the complainant’s phone. This contained material that cast considerable doubt on the truthfulness of the allegation. This followed from a separate ‘not guilty’ verdict for rape heard at Croydon Crown Court in February.