DPP: Alcohol levels linked to failure to prosecute

THE Director of Public Prosecutions has said an increasing number of suspected rape cases were “unprosecutable” because complainants were intoxicated at the time of the assault and can’t remember much of what happened.

DPP James Hamilton said these women would be “destroyed” by defence counsel in any trial and that there was “no way” a jury would be able to bring in a guilty verdict.

He was speaking at the launch of ground-breaking research into rape in Ireland, which was commissioned by the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland following 2003 research which showed Ireland had the highest drop-out rate in rape investigations and the lowest conviction rates.

The research, Rape and Justice in Ireland, found “high levels” of intoxication in rape cases, with nearly two-thirds of complainants and almost nine out of 10 defendants binge drinking on the night of the attack.

The report, co-authored by Conor Hanley, found such complainants find it more difficult to give a “coherent and consistent” story to the gardaí, to the DPP and, in turn, juries.

“Alcohol is hugely important,” said Mr Hamilton. “The reality is if you run a case where consent is an issue and a complainant who admits in her evidence that she doesn’t remember key parts of the events, she going to be destroyed by defence counsel to be blunt about it and there’s no way a jury is going to be able convict beyond a reasonable doubt.”

He said alcohol seemed to be playing an increasing part: “The research is up to 2004. The sort of indications we’re getting is the problem has, if anything, become worse since then and that the number of files we’re seeing which are effectively unprosecutable because of the poor nature of the evidence.”

The report also found 40% of victims who made a complaint to gardaí subsequently withdrew their complaint, forcing the DPP in the vast majority of cases to abandoned prosecution.

In addition, the DPP’s office prosecuted just one third of prosecutable cases (excluding cases where complaints were withdrawn). Mr Hamilton said the decision not to prosecute is based on the evidence, or lack of evidence, available. He said cases are invariably down to consent and the burden is to prove to a jury beyond reasonable doubt that force was used.

He said the rate of complainant withdrawal had fallen in recent years, to 21% in 2006 and to 15% in 2007.

He said there were suspicions of possible false allegations in relation to around a third of cases withdrawn, but said these were largely due to “fragile mental states” of the complainant, rather than malicious complaints.

The report found that just two out of 78 cases involving complainants with a mental illness were prosecuted by the DPP.

He described findings regarding the startling high proportion of suspected rapes carried out by African and eastern European men as “sensationalist”. He said the relatively high proportion of young men in these groups and the high underestimation of these migrants populations in the census, partly explained the figures.

The DPP said his files supported the findings of the report which showed that people from lowersocio-economic backgrounds dominated rape suspects.