Complainant Intoxication Episodes

As season one, Rape on Trial, continues its examination of the investigation and prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences in the UK criminal justice system, we are back in Crown Court for our fourth rape trial. Faruq, a taxi driver, is charged with raping Emily, a lone, intoxicated student he picked up in the street after she had been thrown out of a nightclub and separated from her friends: another rape prosecution the mainstream tells us is unlikely to succeed because of rape myths. In...

The second day of this Crown Court rape trial plunges straight back into cross-examination. The defence sets out to problematise, not the complainant’s credibility, but her reliability—dealing with the evidential difficulties posed by her level of intoxication, memory fragmentation, confabulation and contamination. We see how defence advocacy works in practice: how these issues are probed, how ‘false memories’ are argued, how evidence like CCTV footage and cell-site data does not speak for itse...

We’re back in the public gallery of Crown Court for the third but not, it turns out, final instalment of Faruq’s rape trial. The prosecution concludes its case then it’s time for the jury to hear directly from the defendant himself: his account of that night, his shifting explanations, and the cracks that open up in prosecuting counsel’s cross-examination. **Listener discretion is advised** The broader research underpinning Rape on Trial is reported in our book, Doak et al, Cross-examination o...

It's the final couple of days of Faruq's rape trial. We hear the prosecution and defence counsels' closing speeches followed by judge's directions before the jury retires to deliberate. It's a good day and a half before the jury returns with its unanimous verdict. While we don't and can't know how they reached their decision, Dr Candida Saunders grapples with the presumption of innocence, the burden and standard of proof as she reflects on how and why she came to the same conclusion as the jury...

We're back in Crown Court for another rape trial involving an intoxicated complainant. This time, however, we're in Northern Ireland. Different jurisdiction, but the same issues: rape myths; credibility; and the need to be sure. **Listener discretion is advised** The broader research underpinning Rape on Trial is reported in our book, Doak et al, Cross-examination on Trial: Advocacy and Vulnerability in Criminal Trials (BUP 2025). The book examines cross-examination across the UK and Ireland ...

We're back in a Crown Court in Northern Ireland for the second part of Patrick's jury trial where he stands accused of a single count of rape. This episode concentrates on the cross-examination of Caitlin, the complainant in the case, who was heavily intoxicated at the time. **Listener discretion is advised** The broader research underpinning Rape on Trial is reported in our book, Doak et al, Cross-examination on Trial: Advocacy and Vulnerability in Criminal Trials (BUP 2025). The book examin...