Criminal Evidence & Procedure In Rape Trials Episodes

Introducing Criminal Justice in Action’s first season, Rape on Trial, where we examine how rape and serious sexual offences are investigated and prosecuted in England and Wales: a probing, comprehensive, and, crucially, evidence-based look at how the criminal process works in these cases in practice, when it doesn't, and why it matters. Whether you're a student of law, criminology, social sciences, criminal justice, psychology, gender studies or similar, undertaking policing studies or the Bar ...

Season One: Rape on Trial This is the first of two introductory episodes taking us straight to the heart of this season's topic; the investigation and prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. We're in court for the trial of Tariq who is charged with rape and false imprisonment. It's a case that, according to the mainstream narrative, has little chance of resulting in convictions: one person's word against another's; no forensic evidenc...

Season one: Rape on Trial continues with the second of our two-part season opening. We're back in the public gallery of Crown Court for the final days of Tariq's trial for rape and false imprisonment in a case the conventional wisdom tells us shouldn't result in conviction: one person's word against another's; no forensic evidence; delayed report; young, black complainant; and a defendant claiming consent and an allegation motivated by shame and regret. Will the jury's deliberations and assess...

We’re repeatedly told that juries only convict in “real rape” cases with “ideal victims.” Episode 3 of Criminal Justice in Action: Rape on Trial continues to challenges those assumptions. We're back in Crown Court for the trial of Jerome, accused of robbing five women and raping one. The complainants are sex workers, and the conduct of the trial — and its outcome — raise important questions about the prominence and impact of rape myths and gender stereotypes in rape trials, and how courtroom pr...

Episode 4 of Rape on Trial sees us back in court for the conclusion of Jerome’s trial for the robbery of five sex workers and rape of one; another case involving what the conventional wisdom tells us is the wrong kind of rape and the wrong kind of victim and shouldn't result in convictions. As in Tariq's case, this trial, and the jury’s verdict, raise difficult questions for mainstream accounts of rape in the criminal process, the impact of rape myths and gender stereotypes on victim credibilit...

As Rape on Trial continues, we're back in the public gallery of the Crown Court for Dean’s trial. He is charged with the rape and sexual assault of Anya, his partner at the time. As in previous episodes, Dean’s trial involves another rape case the mainstream narrative tells us shouldn’t succeed: an allegation of intimate partner relationship rape with no forensic evidence, no CCTV, and no eyewitnesses — just one person’s word against another’s. In this, the first of three episodes covering Dea...

Episode 6 of Criminal Justice in Action: Rape on Trial sees us back in Court 2 as Dean's rape trial continues. Dean stands accused of rape and sexual assault against Anya, his girlfriend/partner at the time. We pick up where we left off in episode 5, with Anya about to undergo cross-examination. In contrast to the cross-examination of rape complainants in Tariq and Jerome's trials, Anya's experience in the witness box more closely aligns with what we might expect to see, given mainstream accoun...

Episode 7 of Criminal Justice in Action: Rape on Trial sees us back in Crown Court for the conclusion of Dean’s trial for rape and sexual assault. Another example what we’re told is the wrong kind of rape and the wrong kind of victim. The kind of case the mainstream says shouldn’t succeed: an intimate partner relationship rape; one person’s word against another’s; no corroborating evidence; no forensic evidence; no witnesses; and the toughest cross-examination of a rape complainant we have seen ...

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...