Legal issues
The legal issue varies with the alleged offence. Depending on the case it may concern whether sexual activity occurred, identity, consent and reasonable belief in consent, age, capacity, the nature of an alleged act or another statutory ingredient. Generic assumptions should not replace offence-specific analysis.
Prosecutors apply the Code for Crown Prosecutors to the evidence, including the impact of a defence and other information put forward by the suspect. In RASSO cases, current guidance requires a structured approach to reasonable lines of enquiry and disclosure, including use of a Disclosure Management Document in appropriate cases.
Evidence that matters
Relevant material can include complete communications, call data, social-media records, photographs, CCTV, venue records, location and travel evidence, witnesses, medical or forensic material and device data. The evidential significance depends on the issue actually in dispute.
Digital or third-party material should not be sought speculatively. A focused request should identify the evidential issue, the material sought and why it is reasonably capable of pointing towards or away from the suspect.
Reasonable lines of enquiry
Reasonable enquiries may include preserving CCTV before overwrite, obtaining complete communications rather than selected screenshots, checking booking or travel records, identifying independent witnesses, testing location data or pursuing defined third-party material where there is a proper evidential foundation.
Where the client’s interview account identifies a specific enquiry, the defence can explain why it matters to the charging assessment and what should be preserved or obtained before evidence is lost.
What happens next
After interview, police may continue digital, forensic, witness or third-party enquiries while the suspect is on bail or released under investigation. The file may later be submitted to the CPS for a charging decision or early advice.
Representations are usually most useful once the allegation and defence position are sufficiently understood but before the decision-maker has finally determined the case. Sometimes the correct advice is to obtain better evidence first or avoid disclosing a defence point prematurely.
Immediate steps
Preserve original messages, photographs, location history, booking records and other potentially relevant digital material. Identify CCTV and witnesses early. Prepare a chronology that distinguishes clear memory from uncertainty.
Keep all police, bail and RUI documents. Do not contact a complainant contrary to bail conditions or seek evidence in a way that could create a separate allegation.
What should you send us?
Send the allegation and interview disclosure; custody, bail or voluntary-attendance paperwork; the interview account or attendance note; relevant communications and digital material in original form where possible; witness details; supporting records; and the next bail or review date.