Mr AB

Mr AB was convicted in March 1995 of rape and received a sentence of six years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC inherited an application for review of the conviction from the Home Office in March 1997.

At trial it had been common ground that Mr AB had accepted an invitation to the complainant’s home and that intercourse had taken place, the only issue in dispute being consent.

During review, the CCRC obtained fresh expert psychiatric evidence that the complainant suffered from enduring histrionic personality disorder.

This evidence also indicated that this disorder affected the complainant’s credibility when making accusations and their ability to provide honest testimony.

These findings were corroborated by material from the complainant’s social services files.

The CCRC referred the conviction in January 2000.

The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in July 2002.