David Lammy Accused of Twisting Rape Case Figures to Justify Scrapping Right to Trial by Jury

David Lammy has been accused by senior barristers of misrepresenting figures about rape cases collapsing in a “cynical” attempt to push through the abolition of half of all jury trials. The Sunday Times has more.

The Justice Secretary has repeatedly suggested that 60% of victims are pulling out of cases because of delays in the court system. However, the true statistics show the vast majority of rapes reported are abandoned long before a charge is brought, due to factors such as policing delays. The number of victims withdrawing post-charge is 8%.

Lammy had told Sky News: “If a woman is, sadly, raped in our country today, she will likely have her trial come on in 2028, maybe 2029. That’s a long time for her to wait. Victims of rape are pulling out – 60% are pulling out of cases – witnesses fall away, and the trauma of waiting is too hard.”

The figure was circulated to Labour members in a 13-page briefing of key messages they should use to defend the policy, using the phrase: “In rape cases, 60% of those who report being raped are now pulling out before trial.”

Chris Henley KC, who has appeared in high-profile trials including the murders of Damilola Taylor and Daniel Morgan, said: “Delays pre-charge or a change of mind pre-charge can’t be blamed on the backlog. So much of what Lammy says to defend these proposals is inaccurate. He must know. It’s really cynical.”

He said that Lammy was either “cynical or staggeringly gullible” about the data. “It’s a cowardly betrayal of everything he said in his 2017 review [on the jury system] and what he has repeated since,” he said.

Andrew Thomas KC, of the Criminal Bar Association, acknowledged that court delays placed a huge burden on victims, particularly in sexual assault cases. However, he said a rational debate based on evidence was needed. “That includes using relevant statistics in a proper fashion,” he said. “Justice, as the Secretary of State for Justice should know, begins only when there is a charge to bring a criminal case to court — all forms of rape included.

“The only accurate measure from a court perspective is the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] measure of how many of its prosecutions fall away due to witness attrition and that remains, on average for the past year, around 8%. To include figures relating to allegations brought to police does not assist in this debate and may lead to erroneous conclusions.”

On Saturday the Ministry of Justice described the lawyers’ comments as “completely misleading”, saying that Lammy “has been clear that justice delayed is justice denied, and it is unacceptable that 60% of victims who report rape drop out of the criminal justice system. Court delays are a crucial factor in discouraging people from seeking justice at all stages – this is attested to by victims and victims’ groups.”

The government wants to introduce “swift courts” in which half of crown court cases would be held without a jury. A judge sitting alone would decide a defendant’s guilt in a swathe of cases in England and Wales that carry sentences up to three years, as well as complex frauds.

Worth reading in full.