H had been accused of exposing himself to a 7 year old girl (engaging in a sexual act in front of a child), whose family he was a friend of, before asking her to expose her private parts (inciting a child to perform a sexual act). He had invited her and her young friend to play with his dogs, and had waited until the friend was out of the room before exposing himself. The victim then reported this to her grandparent and a family friend, saying she had ‘a new boyfriend’.
The initial trial resulted in an acquittal on the inciting Count, but a hung jury on the engaging Count. Ben Wild was instructed at short notice (the evening before) on the re-trial and secured the conviction. The evidence included ABE and s28, as well as live evidence.
It also involved extensive legal argument on a niche point of law: whether the family friend’s audio recorded evidence from the first trial could be played as hearsay evidence in the re-trial (due to witness unavailability). Ben’s argument succeeded at re-trial. H was then sentenced but he appealed his conviction.
Ben drafted the Respondent’s Notice in rebuttal to these arguments, arguing that none of the submissions impacted on the safety of the conviction or the fairness of the trial.
Leave to appeal was refused by the Single Judge procedure at the Court of Appeal.
