Liam Allan: Police apologise for student's rape trial ordeal
The case against Liam Allan was thrown out in December, and the 22-year-old says the ordeal has caused him "stress and anxiety".
Tuesday 30 January 2018 14:19, UK
Police and prosecutors have apologised after a student's rape trial collapsed because an officer had failed to disclose key evidence.
The case against Liam Allan, 22, was thrown out of court after it emerged a detective had not handed over text messages from the accuser's phone.
Messages between the complainant in the case and others were only passed to the defence days before the trial collapsed at Croydon Crown Court.
After a review, the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the mistake was not deemed deliberate and no officers or prosecutors have been disciplined over the case.
But Mr Allan said said he had concerns that certain messages in his case "were plucked specifically to go against me".
In a joint statement, the Met Police and CPS said: "The disclosure problems in this case were caused by a combination of error, lack of challenge, and lack of knowledge."
Mr Allan had been charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault before his trial was dropped in December.
The case was thrown out after evidence on computer disk containing 40,000 messages revealed Mr Allan's accuser had pestered him for "casual sex".
Mr Allan had said his "overwhelming feeling was frustration" after spending two years on bail.
After receiving his apology, he said he still had concerns about the way his case was handled.
He told Sky News: "There were certain messages that were plucked specifically to go against me.
"It must mean at some point there was reading somewhere.
"I hope somewhere down the line there are consequences and a lesson is learnt at least.
"I don't want one person being a scapegoat. There are other cases that have been dropped."
Mr Allan said he suffered "stress and anxiety" during his ordeal and wanted to return to a "normal life".
Metropolitan Police Commander Richard Smith said he had met with Mr Allan to offer a "personal apology".
He added: "I was really pleased to have that opportunity to meet with him face to face, allow him to read the report and apologise for the errors that were made."
Claire Lindley, chief crown prosecutor for London South, said the case "highlighted some systemic and deep-rooted issues".
She explained: "The prosecutors involved in this case did not sufficiently challenge the police about digital material," she said.
"That meant that it took longer than was necessary to drop Mr Allan's case. For that, the CPS has offered an unreserved apology to him which I delivered to him in person yesterday."
All rape and serious sexual assault cases in England and Wales - including 600 in London - are being reviewed by the CPS to ensure evidence has been disclosed after a series of collapsed cases in recent weeks.
A rape case against Oxford University student Oliver Mears was dropped after fresh evidence - including a diary that supported his case - was passed to the CPS.
Surrey Police admitted "there were flaws in the investigation" after the force failed to examine the accuser's "digital media" or follow "a reasonable line of enquiry".
Earlier this month, the trial of Samson Makele - who was accused of raping a woman he met after Notting Hill Carnival in 2016 - collapsed after more than a dozen pictures emerged of the pair apparently cuddling in bed.