Mr DR

Mr DR was convicted in December 1999 of indecent assault and gross indecency with a child. Mr DR received a sentence of five and a half years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in December 2009.

In 2008, one of the complainants in the case telephoned the police and stated that she had lied when she alleged that Mr DR indecently assaulted her. She further stated that Mr DR had never committed any offences against her.

The complainant’s retraction was made formally to the police in the course of an interview under caution and was found by the Crown Prosecution Service to be of sufficient weight and cogency to justify the administration of a caution for perjury.

As it was not possible to conclude that the jury did not use the evidence of this complainant to support the evidence of another complainant at trial, the CCRC concluded there was a real possibility the court would find that the retraction rendered all the convictions unsafe.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2012.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in December 2012.