Crown Prosecution Service suspends lawyer Robert Colover from sex offence trials and pledges review into Neil Wilson case
The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, is to investigate the case of a prosecuting barrister who reportedly described a 13-year-old sex abuse victim as behaving in a "predatory" manner.
His comments follow the prime minister's intervention in the argument over the type of language used by the barrister, Robert Colover, during the hearing on Monday at Snaresbrook crown court, east London.
A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The word predatory in this context should not have been used and is of real concern to the CPS. It is not consistent with the work that we have undertaken alongside the judiciary and others in the past year to improve attitudes towards victims of abuse.
"We expect all of our prosecutors, including self-employed barristers who act on our behalf, to follow our guidance in these very difficult cases.
"The DPP will be undertaking a review of this case to determine what happened and to decide what action needs to be taken. We are now considering the involvement of this barrister in sexual offence prosecutions and have advised his chambers that we will not instruct him in any ongoing or future cases involving sexual offences in the meantime."
David Cameron's comments came during his visit to Devon. He said: "I think the CPS are absolutely right to say that what one of their lawyers said was not appropriate. It isn't appropriate. We need a criminal justice system that stands up properly for victims.
"The victims should always be at the centre of our thinking and I'm pleased the CPS have made that statement and I'm also pleased that the attorney general has said that he is personally going to look into this case."
Pressure had been growing on the CPS to carry out a full investigation into the way the case was handled. It has already received a number of formal complaints.
An online petition, demanding Starmer investigates the language used by Colover, has already attracted more than 15,000 signatures.
Colover, who is not an in-house lawyer with the CPS, is reported to have made the comments when describing the victim of the paedophile Neil Wilson, who ultimately walked from court with an eight-month suspended sentence after admitting he had engaged in sexual activity with the girl at his home.
Reportedly, Colover told the court: "The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced." Wilson pleaded guilty and the 13-year-old did not have to appear in court.
Colover's chambers, contacted by the Guardian, said the barrister was not making any comment on the case.
At the time of sentencing, the judge, Nigel Peters, said he was taking into account that the girl "looked and behaved older" than she was.
Wilson, 41, now faces having his term reviewed after the attorney general agreed to examine the case to see whether the sentence was unduly lenient.
Emily Thornberry MP, Labour's shadow attorney general, said: "It is appalling that after the scandals of Jimmy Savile and Rochdale these awful Lolita prejudices are still being served up in court, and by the prosecution of all people."
Under the CPS's own recently introduced guidelines, such cases must be prosecuted by specially trained lawyers. It states: "All child sexual abuse cases must be dealt with by specialist prosecutors based in the CPS rape and serious sexual offences units which have now been established in each CPS area. Advocates presenting these cases in court must be specialists."
A petition started by the founder of Everyday Victim Blaming, who is known only as Jo, has called on the DPP to look at Colover's remarks. She said: "When I heard about this story it took me back to a very tough time in my life. I started this Change.org petition because people in positions of power need to really understand how much harm they do by these kind of damaging, ill-informed and sexist comments."
The Children's charity Barnardo's said that young people could not consent to being abused. Alison Worsley, deputy director of strategy at the children's charity, said: "Children can never truly consent to their own abuse. It is plain wrong to imply in any way that the experiences of sexually exploited children are something they bring on themselves.
"It is difficult to imagine the torment experienced by the vulnerable victims of crimes such as these. Many turn in on themselves and have feelings of shame and even self loathing on top of the psychological scars inflicted by the abuser."
Police also found images of child abuse and bestiality at Wilson's home in Romford, Essex.
Wilson, now living in York, admitted two counts of making extreme pornographic images and one count of sexual activity with a child.
A statement from the attorney general's office read: "The case has been drawn to the attention of this office as a possibly unduly lenient sentence. This means it'll be considered by a law officer (the attorney or solicitor general) who will decide whether it should be referred to the court of appeal under the unduly lenient sentence (ULS) scheme."
The independent charity Victim Support, which has been working with the government, the CPS and others to try to alter attitudes to the way victims and witnesses are handled in the criminal justice system, condemned the treatment of the 13-year-old.
The charity's chief executive, Javed Khan, said: "Victims of sexual abuse should be praised for their bravery in coming forward, not censured and have their credibility called into question – least of all by the prosecution." Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 hours ago.
The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, is to investigate the case of a prosecuting barrister who reportedly described a 13-year-old sex abuse victim as behaving in a "predatory" manner.
His comments follow the prime minister's intervention in the argument over the type of language used by the barrister, Robert Colover, during the hearing on Monday at Snaresbrook crown court, east London.
A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The word predatory in this context should not have been used and is of real concern to the CPS. It is not consistent with the work that we have undertaken alongside the judiciary and others in the past year to improve attitudes towards victims of abuse.
"We expect all of our prosecutors, including self-employed barristers who act on our behalf, to follow our guidance in these very difficult cases.
"The DPP will be undertaking a review of this case to determine what happened and to decide what action needs to be taken. We are now considering the involvement of this barrister in sexual offence prosecutions and have advised his chambers that we will not instruct him in any ongoing or future cases involving sexual offences in the meantime."
David Cameron's comments came during his visit to Devon. He said: "I think the CPS are absolutely right to say that what one of their lawyers said was not appropriate. It isn't appropriate. We need a criminal justice system that stands up properly for victims.
"The victims should always be at the centre of our thinking and I'm pleased the CPS have made that statement and I'm also pleased that the attorney general has said that he is personally going to look into this case."
Pressure had been growing on the CPS to carry out a full investigation into the way the case was handled. It has already received a number of formal complaints.
An online petition, demanding Starmer investigates the language used by Colover, has already attracted more than 15,000 signatures.
Colover, who is not an in-house lawyer with the CPS, is reported to have made the comments when describing the victim of the paedophile Neil Wilson, who ultimately walked from court with an eight-month suspended sentence after admitting he had engaged in sexual activity with the girl at his home.
Reportedly, Colover told the court: "The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced." Wilson pleaded guilty and the 13-year-old did not have to appear in court.
Colover's chambers, contacted by the Guardian, said the barrister was not making any comment on the case.
At the time of sentencing, the judge, Nigel Peters, said he was taking into account that the girl "looked and behaved older" than she was.
Wilson, 41, now faces having his term reviewed after the attorney general agreed to examine the case to see whether the sentence was unduly lenient.
Emily Thornberry MP, Labour's shadow attorney general, said: "It is appalling that after the scandals of Jimmy Savile and Rochdale these awful Lolita prejudices are still being served up in court, and by the prosecution of all people."
Under the CPS's own recently introduced guidelines, such cases must be prosecuted by specially trained lawyers. It states: "All child sexual abuse cases must be dealt with by specialist prosecutors based in the CPS rape and serious sexual offences units which have now been established in each CPS area. Advocates presenting these cases in court must be specialists."
A petition started by the founder of Everyday Victim Blaming, who is known only as Jo, has called on the DPP to look at Colover's remarks. She said: "When I heard about this story it took me back to a very tough time in my life. I started this Change.org petition because people in positions of power need to really understand how much harm they do by these kind of damaging, ill-informed and sexist comments."
The Children's charity Barnardo's said that young people could not consent to being abused. Alison Worsley, deputy director of strategy at the children's charity, said: "Children can never truly consent to their own abuse. It is plain wrong to imply in any way that the experiences of sexually exploited children are something they bring on themselves.
"It is difficult to imagine the torment experienced by the vulnerable victims of crimes such as these. Many turn in on themselves and have feelings of shame and even self loathing on top of the psychological scars inflicted by the abuser."
Police also found images of child abuse and bestiality at Wilson's home in Romford, Essex.
Wilson, now living in York, admitted two counts of making extreme pornographic images and one count of sexual activity with a child.
A statement from the attorney general's office read: "The case has been drawn to the attention of this office as a possibly unduly lenient sentence. This means it'll be considered by a law officer (the attorney or solicitor general) who will decide whether it should be referred to the court of appeal under the unduly lenient sentence (ULS) scheme."
The independent charity Victim Support, which has been working with the government, the CPS and others to try to alter attitudes to the way victims and witnesses are handled in the criminal justice system, condemned the treatment of the 13-year-old.
The charity's chief executive, Javed Khan, said: "Victims of sexual abuse should be praised for their bravery in coming forward, not censured and have their credibility called into question – least of all by the prosecution." Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 hours ago.