Ann Tayo, instructed by Norton Peskett Solicitors, represented a defendant who was charged back in 2019, in a case older than the ilk referred to by The Right Honourable Lord Justice Edis in his letter to the Judiciary, Bar and Clerks, in March of this year, dealing with rape timeliness in court and delays in rape and serious sexual offences. There were very senior judicial interventions to bring this trial forward.
Ann represented her client who faced 6 historical allegations, dating back to 1994, in respect of four counts of Indecent Assault and two counts of Rape pertaining to offences said to have been occasioned over a period between twenty five and thirty years ago by him against his sister when he was aged between 11-16 and his sister was aged between 9 -14.
The matters were reported at the time by the complainant to her parents and the pastor of her church, who has since died, but not the police until 2019. Documentary records from the church of the fact the defendant did not deny the accusations and the oral testimony of his sister formed the basis of the Crown’s case.
The indictment dates spanned a time when the defendant was, and then when he was not, subject to the law of doli incapax.
Following a five day trial at Ipswich Crown Court, the jury deliberated for just over an hour before returning six successive verdicts of Not Guilty.
Ann’s full profile: https://greatjames.co.uk/members/ann-tayo/