16-year-old Accused of Rape – No Further Action

Case study summary

Our client was a 16-year-old school student who was shocked when he was asked to attend a police interview about a rape allegation. We represented him and left the police with no choice but to drop the case.

Case study

We were approached by a schoolboy and his family who had been asked to attend an interview under caution by the police. This case arose as our client had been in a relationship with a teenager in his year at school. The relationship had become sexual, but everything had been fully consensual. The pair then broke up, and several weeks later, the police attended the family home.

Our client had never been in trouble with the police before. He was shocked and distraught when these false allegations were made. The accusation was very serious, and the parents worried this could ruin his future. Therefore, the family instructed our specialist criminal defence lawyers to represent him.

We attended the interview with our client and were able to assess the strength of the evidence. Whilst his ex-girlfriend has provided an account, it was limited and contradictory. In these circumstances, the evidence was unlikely to be enough for the Crown Prosecution Service to charge our client. If our client had advanced any account, he may have risked providing the police with information that they did not have. Therefore, the correct tactical decision was for the client to make no comment during the interview. The starting point is always for the police to gather evidence against a suspect. They have to get enough evidence to show that there is a reasonable prospect of them being convicted, and it was clear that the material they had did not meet that standard. By saying nothing, we left the police with no choice but to drop the case.

The client was relieved that his ordeal was over and glad that he was able to return to focusing on his upcoming exams.