In R v PD and another tried in June at Manchester Crown Court, Neil Usher successfully defended his 17 year old client who was tried for the joint rape of a 14 year old family member.
At the close of the prosecution case Neil submitted there was ‘no case to answer’ given weaknesses in the account of the Complainant during his cross-examination of her.
Unusually where the issue was the credibility of the Complainant’s account, the trial Judge agreed and directed Neil’s client and his co-defendant be found not guilty.
Earlier in the trial Neil had also successfully adduced evidence of a previous false allegation of rape, and made a successful application to adduce evidence of the Complainant’s alleged sexual history (s.41).