Mr AH

Mr AH was convicted in May 1998 of rape and received a sentence of three years’ detention. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in December 1998.

Mr AH, aged 12 at the time of the alleged offence, was accused of the rape of the five-year-old complainant.

The complainant’s family was known to the local authority social services department, and some disclosure of social services material relating to the complainant took place prior to trial.

However, the CCRC’s review found that a considerable amount of relevant material had not been disclosed pre-trial.

In addition, a comprehensive assessment of the complainant was carried out post-trial by expert psychologists.

Both the undisclosed material and the psychologists’ report raised serious concerns over the complainant’s credibility.

The CCRC referred the conviction in February 2001.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in December 2002.