‘Savvy’ lawyers undermining rape cases, says top Met officer

(Gareth Fuller/PA)
PA Archive
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Rape victims are having their trauma exploited by “savvy” defence lawyers to undermine their testimony and thwart the chances of convictions, one of the Met’s most senior officers has warned MPs.

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said that defence teams were “wilfully” misrepresenting victims’ trauma as a “lack of credibility”.

She added that it was sometimes easier for a jury “to believe a perpetrator who looks smart in the dock” than a traumatised victim and that a new approach was needed in the justice system to ensure that the impact of rape was understood.

“In cases where there is some existing relationship or a long term abusive relationship or just a recent acquaintance it is far too easy for a savvy defence team to pick holes in a victim’s account and to wilfully misinterpret a normal manifestation of trauma as a lack of credibility,” she told the Commons home affairs select committee.

Her comments will prompt fresh debate about whether victims are treated fairly by defence barristers and jurors recognise how trauma can affect the way that a victim reports, recalls and testifies about an offence.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in