Network backs Mirren on rape jurors

THE head of the Rape Crisis Network has said she agrees with actress Helen Mirren that female jurors could be less likely to sympathise with a rape victim — but for different reasons.

The Oscar-winner, who has previously come under fire for claiming date rape should not be a matter for the courts, says lawyers defending men accused of rape prefer having a female-dominated jury because “women go against women”.

“In a rape case, the courts — in defence of a man — would select as many women as they could for the jury, because women go against women,” she said, in an interview in yesterday’s Sunday Times Magazine.