Uh-Oh! Another D'oh!

Not too long ago I posted this tale of a simple error that wasted time and money.

Exactly the same thing happened this week, believe it or not. Two pages from the end of a not-very-long ROTI, the interviewing officer put a previous conviction for a similar offence to the suspect, who accepted it. When the CPS prosecutor (who had the officer in the case close to hand) passed up the interview, the Clerk specifically asked him if it had been checked, and he said that it had.

End of trial for today, and a morning wasted for me, my two colleagues, two lawyers, an usher, a victim support worker, two PCs and the victim.

An extract from the CPS Operation Manual
















Even worse, the trial was going on in the defendant's absence, since he had not turned up. That's about as near to an open goal as a prosecutor will ever get. Unfortunately London's CPS is about as reliable in front of a open goal as the England World Cup team.