Bacchus, Arron

Arron Bacchus was convicted in June 2000 of robbery and attempting to obtain property by deception. Mr Bacchus was also convicted in September 2000 of robbery.

He received a total sentence of eight years’ detention in a young offender’s institution.

The CCRC received an application for review of the convictions in May 2002.

Mr Bacchus was charged, along with several other individuals, with a series of offences committed in April 1999 in Nottingham.

At trial, CCTV images of the scenes of some of the incidents were produced. The prosecution contended that Mr Bacchus could be identified from these.

The prosecution relied on the evidence of a facial mapping expert.

Facial mapping is a technique in which images which do not lend themselves to recognition are analysed to establish whether there is an expert case that the blurred image is of the defendant.

Facial mapping evidence is often based on a “compare and contrast” between the blurred image and a clear and reliable image of the defendant.

The technique can never be used to say with certainty whether the blurred image is that of the defendant and expert opinion can only be properly be expressed with degrees of confidence.

Following review of Mr Bacchus’ case, the CCRC concluded that the facial mapping expert used at trial was no longer considered reliable by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Furthermore, the Crown accepted that the facial mapping evidence used in this case could no longer be considered reliable.

The CCRC considered that the jury might not have convicted Mr Bacchus without this expert evidence.

The CCRC referred the conviction in August 2003.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in June 2004.