Richard Gowthorpe has secured the acquittal of a client charged with a serious assault before the Crown Court.

This was an extremely sensitive case that required delicate handling and careful preparation. The complainant was a vulnerable six year old child with severe learning difficulties and this meant that the trial involved a new procedure for pre-trial cross examination of the complainant under Section 28 of the Youth Justice & Criminal Evidence Act. The allegation concerned an assault which resulted in injuries to the boy’s genitals.

The challenging evidential issues presented by the case were thoroughly explored by the client’s solicitor, Becky Gay, and with the assistance of a specialist independent expert instructed by the defence questions over the reliability of the complainant’s account started to emerge.

Ultimately the Crown Prosecution Service, who brought the prosecution, accepted the defence representations over reliability of the prosecution evidence and withdrew the allegation. Thanks to the hard work and persistence of Becky’s preparation and the skill of Richard’s cross examination the case against the client did not even go to trial protecting the client’s good character and reputation.

“we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts…cannot stress enough how supportive you were and how you helped us through the last fourteen months. I am not sure we would have coped without you…”