Sex Crime Anonymity......

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31970034
It's a no brainer to me, why should an accuser be able to ruin lives from the cloak of anonymity?

[jno]

TTT, hasn't ludwig said the opposite?

[jackthehat]

It's not so much the naming of a Suspect, it is the media feeding frenzy which develops afterwards that is the trouble.

If the newspapers, etc. could be persuaded to simply state the facts of an arrest or questioning without the follow-up hysteria, it might go some way to redressing the balance.

[DSJ]

Agreed.

[ToraToraTora]

"If the newspapers, etc. could be persuaded to simply state the facts of an arrest or questioning without the follow-up hysteria, it might go some way to redressing the balance. " - yeah and the cheque's in the post.

[Zacs-Master]

jack - hope the weather's nice in Cloud Cuckoo Land. ;-)

[dannyk13]

What happened to the concept of criminal proceedings being sub-judice before the first court appearance?

[Old_Geezer]

"unless they were charged". I think there is a debate to be had whether such information should be made public at the time of a conviction, but at the time of the charge is far too soon. Mud sticks.

[Peter Pedant]

ummi // Any stats on how many people are wrongly accused and where the accused are named?//

If you write to the DPP as I have done, Alison Saunders ( for it is she ) would take the view that being found not guilty does NOT mean they have been wrongly accused....
just that the prosecution didnt succeed.

In terms of the acquitted accused, turning around and suing for damages in Libel or bringing a private prosecution for perjury or attempting to pervert the course of justice - the bar for that is very very high and there are very few. ? ten a year

for the above you need the victim to say something like - I lied to get the victim into trouble....

Josh Rozenberg this pm on pm said: "after a failed prosecution, the CPS always look very very hard at what went wrong....."

and I nearly fell off my chair with laughter.

They dont. Alison seems to say ( when she is told by someone like me, see above ) is " damn.... neeeeeext ! well the tax payer pays "

[Peter Pedant]

// What happened to the concept of criminal proceedings being sub-judice before the first court appearance?//

I think it is "being charged" is the event which starts the sub judice rule.

and if it regulatory - GMC, NMC and so on - it is never. GMC tried to have the Beeb sent down for contempt and surprisingly the High Court found that as the GMC was not a court of record, the rule didnt apply

[ludwig]

// Luwig, really? that's ok is it? to plaster someone all over the media because someone says so? are you prepared to give that kind of power out?
//

No, it isn't ok. Which is what I said.

[ludwig]

// TTT, hasn't ludwig said the opposite? //

Yes, thankyou jno.