PHOTOSHOT/GETTY STOCK Sir Richard Henriques questions police forces training officers to automatically believe complaints

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Sir Richard Henriques' comments follow the collapse of three rape cases in which it was found that the police had withheld evidence from defence lawyers or failed to investigate them properly. In 2016 the former High Court judge headed a damning inquiry into the Metropolitan Police force’s mishandling of a raft of historic sexual abuse claims, in which he said the presumption of guilt against suspects had coloured the way investigations were handled. Yesterday he said: “The obligation to believe all complainants at the start and automatically treat them as victims handicaps police disclosure officers in their duty to disclose evidence that assists defendants or undermines the prosecution case. This mentality is supported by the College of Policing.” In order to restore confidence, “police officers must be trained to investigate complaints with an open mind, understanding that a complaint may be genuine or false, and that there accused may be guilty or innocent”.

The obligation to believe all complainants at the start and automatically treat them as victims handicaps police Sir Richard Henrique

He rejected claims by Chief Constable Simon Bailey of the College of Policing that only 0.1 per cent of allegations are false, branding the assertion “highly dubious” and saying it “demonstrates a mindset that undermines confidence in our justice process.” He also dismissed arguments by charities that the “vast majority” of survivors don’t report sexual crimes for fear of not being believed, adding: “The cases that have emerged over the last week demonstrate that the burden of proof is being reversed. It’s flawed. “Somebody who has been a genuine victim of crime doesn’t need to be encouraged to go to the police. They go to the police because they’re a victim of crime.” Laying the blame on the College of Policing, he challenged Home Secretary Amber Rudd to intervene, saying: “More than 16 months have elapsed since the obligation to believe complainants was criticised in my report and fully accepted by former chief Constable Sir Bernard Hogan- Howe.

“Since the College of Policing is not prepared to impose a fair system of investigating sexual allegations, the time has surely come for either the Home Office or Parliament to insist that investigations are carried out with an open mind.” The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was reviewing 30 rape cases following the collapse of two unrelated prosecutions against Liam Allan and Isaac Iti- ary last week, with both men acquitted after the discovery of evidence that should have stopped them ending up in court. Detective Constable Mark Azariah, who worked on both cases, is said not to have passed on the contents of text messages to defence teams, claiming they were irrelevant. In Mr Allan’s case, they revealed that the complainant had told friends she wanted and enjoyed the sex she later reported as rape. Mr Itiary had been charged with the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl but messages showed she had claimed she was 19. Last week 26-year-old Danny Kay was freed from prison after serving four-and-a-half years for rape. An appeal heard that the complainant had deleted crucial messages from her Facebook account, claiming it was a “space saving exercise”. In fact the 29 messages, fond subsequently in an archived folder on Kay’s account, proved the sex had been consensual. Last night senior lawyers laid further blame on the way the criminal justice system had been starved of resources.

In sexual abuse cases involving people who know each other police officers seize the phones and computers of both parties. A disclosure officer is tasked with sifting through the data to determine what is relevant, and an Officer in the Case is supposed to ensure proper procedure is followed. “The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 makes it clear these should be separate, yet not only are they often one and the same, but often they’re not specialists,” said Kerim Fuad QC, leader of the south eastern circuit which represents 7,000 barristers. “Many genuinely don't even know the code of practice. Because they’re police officers they see a piece of material and are worried it will sink their case, so fail to disclose it.” Cuts in case costs also play a role. “File size has become a hot potato.In this digital age, teenage girls can generate thousands of text messages and emails,“ he said. “But prosecutors are deliberately wanting to serve as few papers as possible, or they’d have to pay counsel they instruct more. Defending counsel would also be paid more.” Another barrister described how, in 2015, the CPS had to be asked repeatedly to provide text messages between a woman and the Polish defendant accused of harassing her. More than 5,000 text messages , described as unused evidence, were eventually handed over - but the CPS would not pay to have them translated from Polish. “My client has insisted that he’d had a previous relationship wth the complainant, while she said they hadn't.