The Metropolitan police is to review scores of sexual assault cases after potential errors led to the collapse of a second rape case in the space of a week.
In the latest case, an alleged child rapist was cleared at court with prosecutors offering no evidence.
The Met said material had not been given to the defence team of the suspect, Isaac Itiary, until his lawyers asked for it. He was charged with the rape of a child and other offences at Inner London crown court, where the case collapsed on Tuesday.
The Guardian understands that material recovered from the phone of the complainant by police was handed over to the defence lawyers in recent days. It undermined the prosecution’s case.
The issue at the heart of the controversy is disclosure of material that police obtain during the course of an inquiry, which could help the defendant’s case.
The prosecution and police have a duty to disclose it; in the Itiary case, one source with knowledge of the proceedings said: “The Met could have moved quicker. They were a bit slow.”
It is the same issue that last week saw a student cleared of multiple rape charges. On Thursday the trial of Liam Allan, 22, was halted at Croydon crown court after it emerged that police had belatedly disclosed phone messages between the complainant and her friends that threw the case into doubt.
After the latest case the Met said: “As a precaution, every live case being investigated by the child abuse and sexual offences command, where the MPS [Metropolitan police service] is in discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service, is being reviewed to ensure that all digital evidence has been properly examined, documented and shared with the CPS to meet obligations under disclosure.”
A spokesperson for the Met said the force could not say how many cases this would involve. Nor could the Met say who was carrying out the review, nor how many officers and staff would carry it out. At the very least it is thought to involve cases where suspects have been charged and which are expected to go before a jury at a crown court.
Both cases involved the same investigating officer, and the detective remains on full duty in the sexual offences investigation unit, the Met said.
According to details given by the Met, Itiary, 25, was charged with child rape in July 2017 and the investigation continued.
The Met said: “Isaac Itiary was charged with the rape of a child under 16, and other offences, after consultation with the CPS in July 2017. Since then the MPS investigation team has been working closely with the CPS to progress the investigation and provide full disclosure.
“In response to the defence case statement received by the officer in the case on 15 December, all material was reviewed to identify any further relevant information likely to assist their case. This resulted in the identification of relevant material which was passed to the CPS to disclose.
“Given the time elapsed between the charging decision and receipt of the defence case statement, the MPS will carry out a review of this investigation to ensure that all reasonable lines of inquiry were pursued at the earliest practical opportunity.”
It is potentially a huge embarrassment for the Met, Britain’s largest police force, which is led by Commissioner Cressida Dick.
In a statement on Tuesday, the CPS said: “On 17 December 2017, the police provided new material to the CPS, which had previously been requested, and this was reviewed.
“Prosecutors decided that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction and we offered no evidence against the defendant at a hearing today.”
The CPS said the new material meant the case against Itiary no longer met the threshold test applied when the decision is made to prosecute. “A decision to charge under the threshold test must be kept under review, and prosecutors are required to take account of any change in circumstances as a case develops,” it said.
Commander Richard Smith, who oversees Met rape investigations, said: “I completely understand that this case may raise concerns about our compliance with disclosure legislation given the backdrop of the case of R v Allan last week. The Met is completely committed to understanding what went wrong in the case of Mr Allan and is carrying out a joint review with the CPS, the findings of which will be published.
“Rape investigations are by their nature very complex, and often hinge on the contradictory accounts of the alleged suspect and the complainant about what has taken place. We are reviewing all our investigations, where we are in discussion with the CPS, to assure ourselves that we are meeting our disclosure obligations in an acceptable timescale based on the volume of data that some cases involve.”
Reported rape and sexual abuse cases are increasing and the teams investigating them are hugely stretched. Police’s digital forensic capacity – the ability to examine phones and computers – is growing but still limited. Such evidence is increasingly important in the criminal justice system.
