# What should happen in this false sex offence case? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541 "2018-04-16T22:19:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541/1 "2018-04-16T22:19:48Z")
Article [here](https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/teacher-takes-late-disclosure-case-on-tv-after-banbury-false-sex-offence-claim-1-8389168). > [@](#): > > A teacher who has spent the last nine months clearing his name of a sex assault allegation… After magistrates ruled at a hearing before Christmas there was no case to answer, he has this week been completely exonerated by education services… In this instance police and prosecutors refused to disclose vital CCTV evidence until two weeks before the court case. It’s that last sentence that particularly interests me. They failed to disclose evidence that would have immediately exhonorated the teacher. Should the police and prosecutors themselves be prosecuted for attempting to pervert the course of justice? And the teacher spent much of his pension clearing his name. Should he be compensated? What else should happen? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541/2 "2018-04-16T22:28:35Z")
Well, there is clearly a civil case here. The problem with charging them with a crime though is it can make things really messy for the prosecutors. If a prosecutor has to worry about being charged with a crime for failure to prosecute an alleged crime properly, it might make them gun shy and not want to prosecute any case that isn’t an easy win. The end result of course being lots of victims never getting justice because prosecutors are too afraid to follow through with the case. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541/3 "2018-04-16T23:03:24Z")
Prosecutor and cops should be fired, teacher should get a big payout in compensation. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541/4 "2018-04-17T18:57:12Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Prosecutor and cops should be fired, teacher should get a big payout in compensation. I agree. Prosecutors should have plenty of cases to work, they shouldn’t take iffy cases to court, let alone ones like this. This is a dereliction of duty on the prosecutor’s end. It’s less clear with any police detectives, but even they should say at some point “this guy didn’t do it, pack it in”. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541/5 "2018-04-17T19:16:35Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > If a prosecutor has to worry about being charged with a crime for failure to prosecute an alleged crime properly, it might make them gun shy and not want to prosecute any case that isn’t an easy win. > > The end result of course being lots of victims never getting justice because prosecutors are too afraid to follow through with the case. We _definitely should_ make prosecutors “gun shy” about charging people with crimes when the prosecutor knowingly possesses evidence that the crime either didn’t happen or the person they are charging didn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541/6 "2018-04-17T19:45:39Z")
There are a bunch of cases of British prosecutors doing this due to political pressure to get more rape and sexual-assault convictions. There is now a pushback against it. > **[Police apologise to 22-year-old man falsely accused of rape after failing to...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/liam-allan-met-police-rape-accusation-false-evidence-disclosure-arrest-mistake-detectives-a8184916.html)** > > 'The disclosure problems in this case were caused by a combination of error, lack of challenge, and lack of knowledge', review finds > **[All rape cases to be reviewed after collapse of four trials within weeks](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cps-review-rape-sexual-assault-cases-trials-collapse-alison-saunders-a8180881.html)** > > Police officers dealing with disclosure of evidence could be required to obtain ‘licence to practise’ under plan to address failings > **[Police chief admits 'cultural problem' with evidence disclosure](https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/jan/24/more-than-900-criminal-cases-collapse-undisclosed-evidence-cps-police)** > > CPS or forces’ failure to disclose stopped 900 criminal cases in England and Wales going ahead > **[Urgent review of all rape cases as digital evidence is withheld](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/26/urgent-review-of-all-cases-as-digital-evidence-is-withheld)** > > Some prosecutions may be dropped as a result of emergency measure, officials admit > **[More than 900 prosecutions collapse in a year over failure to disclose evidence](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/24/900-prosecutions-collapse-year-failure-disclose-evidence/)** > > More than 900 criminal cases were dropped last year due to a failure by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence, it has been reported. There was a case not long ago where a Game of Thrones actress accused a man of sexually assaulting her with his hands at a train station. It went all the way to trial where he was exonerated due to camera footage showing he walked past her without stopping. > **[It took half a second for this man's life to change](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/man-falsely-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-actress-feels-like-he-has-undergone-mental-torture-sanctioned-by-the-state-a6867366.html)** > > A commuter wrongly accused of sexually assaulting a "well-known" actress after brushing past her at a train station has spoken of how “half a second turned into a year of hell”. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-in-this-false-sex-offence-case/812541/7 "2018-04-17T23:05:46Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > There was a case not long ago where a Game of Thrones actress accused a man of sexually assaulting her with his hands at a train station. It went all the way to trial where he was exonerated due to camera footage showing he walked past her without stopping. > > [Man falsely accused of sexually assaulting actress feels like he has undergone 'mental torture sanctioned by the state' | The Independent | The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/man-falsely-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-actress-feels-like-he-has-undergone-mental-torture-a6867366.html) And yet, the paper does not name the actress who falsely accused an innocent man. Such is the world we live in. :smack: