Matt Morgan’s client was acquitted by a jury of all charges in a case involving four counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration, arising from allegations relating to events said to have occurred over a six-hour period overnight in a public park.
There was a significant age disparity between the defendant and the complainant. The defendant accepted that he was present and had engaged in consensual sexual activity with the complainant, but denied any penetration.
DNA evidence linked the defendant to the complainant in an intimate context. The defence case was that the complainant had inserted the defendant’s DNA herself. Although this explanation had not been advanced during the defendant’s police interview, the defence maintained that the allegations were false.
The case ultimately turned on issues of credibility and reliability.