Defence: delays and 'intimidation' can lead to accused walking free, says report

Domestic violence offenders are getting away with their crimes because defence lawyers are using delaying tactics and intimidating witnesses in court, research by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Inspectorate has suggested.

The report, which also called for more consistency on the part of the police and CPS when investigating and prosecuting such offences, said that offenders walked free in up to 97% of reported cases - and just one in four are reported in the first place.

It pointed to regional variations in the way cases are dealt with by prosecuting authorities, according to the effectiveness of local initiatives aimed at combating domestic violence; chief CPS inspector Stephen Wooler urged that they should 'all strive nationally to achieve the same high standards'.

However, the report said that part of the problem could be put down to defence lawyers regularly advising their clients to postpone their plea in the hope that the victim would drop the case.

'Close relationships between defendants and their lawyers could also contribute to victims' sense of betrayal by the legal system,' it said.

'Tactics by the defence include "coercive questioning and intimidation tactics", minimising and denying the violence, exploiting dynamics and myths about domestic violence, and capitalising on the victim's social isolation,' the report added.

It called on the CPS to challenge those tactics robustly in court.

Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said there was the potential on both sides of such cases to either go beyond a mere determination to prosecute or put up an unnecessarily obstructive defence.

'For both the prosecution and defence of those involved in domestic violence cases, this raises a number of complex issues,' he said.

'But above all we must aim to protect vulnerable victims and at the same time strike the balance of justice.'

Paula Rohan