My Lords, Amendment 219A is tabled in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours. This amendment is designed simply to protect the identity of those accused of sexual offences in a similar way that the identities of the alleged victims of sexual offences are currently protected. The significant difference here is that the identity of the accused would be protected only until the point of charge, and if the police believe that the public interest demands it, the police can apply to a court to have that ban lifted so that the identity of the accused can be put into the public domain before charge. There needs to be a balance between the rights of the accused and the rights of the victims of sexual offences. This amendment is designed to allow us to establish where that balance should be.
We will all be acutely aware of the impact that sexual offences can have on the victims or survivors, but until recently the voice of those who have falsely accused of such offences has not been heard. Some noble Lords will have heard about the impact that such accusations have had on the widow of Lord Brittan, Sir Cliff Richard and Paul Gambaccini when they came to speak to Members of the House about their experiences. I introduced that event but did not hear their personal accounts. Since then I have been contacted by others, the families of those whom none of us has ever heard of, who have been similarly devastated by allegations of a sexual nature being made, those allegations being made public, and then the police realising that there was no credible evidence to support the allegations. The emotional first-hand accounts of the pain and suffering of those falsely accused are powerful, but I have tried to stand aside from such emotions and to deal with this matter objectively.
It is important that I declare a number of interests in terms of my experiences over the years. During my professional career of more than 30 years as a police officer, I have dealt with, supported and campaigned for justice for those who have been the victims of male violence in general and of sexual offences in particular. I was one of the most senior police officers at New Scotland Yard when the incoming commissioner, Sir Ian, now the noble Lord, Lord Blair of Boughton, asked me to carry out a review of how the victims of rape were dealt with by the Metropolitan Police. Having been the co-author of a book that significantly changed the way the police investigated rape offences for the better, the commissioner wanted to ensure that the Metropolitan Police was among the best in the world
at dealing with rape allegations. I carried out an in-depth review with academics and survivor groups, and produced hard-hitting recommendations on how the police should improve the way they support victims of rape. I worked together with the then assistant commissioner, Tim Godwin, to establish further Havens, places in the National Health Service where the survivors of sexual offences could go to receive the physical and psychological support they needed, where forensic samples could be preserved, and where they could be put in contact with the police if they wanted to pursue the case through the criminal justice system.
One of the first engagements I had with a group from outside the House following my introduction three years ago was with representatives of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, a UK-wide coalition of more than 70 women’s organisations and others working to end violence against women and girls in all its forms. The point I want to make is that I am passionate about working to end violence against women and girls, ensuring that the survivors of male violence are supported and the perpetrators brought to justice if the survivor wants to pursue the matter.
I know from personal experience about male violence and no one is more committed to ensuring that the criminal justice system does more to protect and support survivors, as well as ensuring that the perpetrators are successfully brought to justice in a way that respects survivors and encourages them to come forward. But this cannot be justice for victims at any cost. The protection of the rights of survivors cannot be at the unnecessary and unreasonable denial of the rights of the accused.
Many sexual offences are different in nature from other criminal offences. In most cases of criminal wrongdoing, there is objective and physical evidence of that wrongdoing. If someone is accused of murder, there is almost always a body. If someone is accused of child cruelty, there is a child who has been harmed. In many sexual offences cases, particularly where the offence is historical, very often there is no objective, independent physical evidence. The allegation can be made and the complainant can be credible, but the complainant may be mistaken or, albeit rarely, malicious. One has only to look at those parts of the report produced for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Richard Henriques, which was made public last week, to realise how the police can be taken in. The police must treat every allegation made to them seriously, but they must believe the person making the allegation as far as the initial investigation and care and support for that person are concerned. They must treat the allegations as true as far as their interaction with that individual is concerned, unless and until they establish that there is no credible evidence to support the allegation. However, until they do establish that there is credible evidence that they can put before a court, they should not do anything to identify the accused, unless there are exceptional circumstances. That is what this amendment seeks to achieve.
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We have a system of open justice in this country and there is no suggestion that someone who has been charged and appears before a court should have their
identity protected. Too few survivors of sexual offences come forward to report what has happened to the police, too few cases result in charges being brought and too few people are convicted in the courts. Everything must be done to improve the chances of perpetrators being brought to justice, but not at any cost. There is already a cost—a necessary cost—to open justice as the law stands in that the identity of the victim of a sexual offence is protected for their lifetime, and rightly so.
Although we should live in a society where no shame should be attached to being the victim of a sexual offence, that is not the reality. Although we should live in a society where the principle of innocent until proven guilty is not just a legal theory, when it comes to sexual offences, the reality is that people believe there is no smoke without fire. The consequences of this are only too clear from Sir Richard Henriques’s report.
It has been suggested that it is important the police name those arrested. The police themselves believe that there should be a presumption against identifying people who have been arrested. The College of Policing guidance is that the name of the person arrested should not normally be released, but that is not what happens in practice .Even when there is no public interest, where the ends of justice do not demand it and where they may even be frustrated by the arrested person’s identity being made public, there are endless cases, particularly where the individual has a high profile—locally, nationally or internationally—and their name is leaked to the press. This is not limited to an anonymous tip-off by a constable—noble Lords will remember the BBC helicopter beaming live pictures of the raid on Sir Cliff Richard’s home in collusion with South Yorkshire police. He has never been arrested. Whatever the police guidelines say, the identity of those arrested routinely finds its way in to the public domain.
In the case of victims of sexual offences, their identities are far better protected because the law protects them. This amendment extends that protection to those accused of sexual offences but, I repeat, only to the point of charge. In the independent review of the Metropolitan Police Service’s handling of non-recent sexual offence investigations alleged against persons of public prominence, Sir Richard Henriques concludes in recommendation 10 on page 45:
“A suspect should have the right to anonymity prior to arrest enforced by statute and criminal sanctions.”
Although this amendment goes further by requiring an anonymity pre-charge, the principle that anonymity needs to be protected by statute and criminal sanctions is accepted by Sir Richard. It is important that in certain circumstances, the police should still be able to release the identity of a person suspected of a sexual offence before they are charged. This amendment allows that an application can be made to a judge in exceptional circumstances. For example, if a survivor has given credible evidence, there is corroborating forensic evidence and suspicion that the accused may have attacked others, but the only person who has come forward is unwilling to pursue the case, the police could and should appeal for other victims to come forward.
Those opposing the amendment have cited specific cases. In some of those, serious errors were made by the police, who failed to act on the evidence. In others, further victims have come forward after the accused was charged with the offence, but rarely before charge. There is a balance to be struck. The amendment suggests that the balance lies where the police have credible evidence that they and the Crown Prosecution Service intend to put before a court. In very few cases, if any, have the police had to rely on the naming of an individual to encourage further victims to come forward to secure sufficient evidence to charge an individual or prove a case against them, but if a such a situation arose the police could apply to a judge to have the name of the individual released.
It has been suggested that false allegations of sexual offences are rare, and therefore the amendment is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Recommendation 4 on page 28 of Sir Richard Henriques’s report says:
“Investigators should be informed that false complaints are made from time to time and should not be regarded as a remote possibility. They may be malicious, mistaken, designed to support others, financially motivated, or inexplicable”.
It has also been suggested that the call for pre-charge anonymity is misplaced—that the way those accused are treated is the result of terrible, sensationalising media representation of sexual offences, accompanied by a collective failure to uphold the presumption of innocence. Media sensationalism and protecting the presumption of innocence need to be addressed, but how, as we have seen over the recent attacks on the judiciary, are we to tackle those issues without being accused of curtailing freedom of the press? Sadly this is the reality; this is the world we live in. This is why the accused and those who are victims of sexual offences should be protected.
I brought forward the amendment because it is time for this important issue to be debated again. I passionately believe in justice, but not in justice at any cost. The rights of the accused in sexual offences need to be considered alongside those of the victim. Quite rightly, there is public abhorrence of those who commit sexual offences, particularly against those who are too young to consent. The damage to the reputations of those accused can therefore be irrevocably damaged.
Sexual offences can be of a nature where allegations are easy to make, where there is no corroborative evidence and where the consequences for those falsely accused can be devastating. It is time we seriously considered this amendment. I beg to move.