News
26th Jan 2018
On 21st December 2017, Jerry Hayes, accompanied by his pupil, Jeanette Stevenson, attended the Attorney General’s questions following the criminal trial of Liam Allen. Jerry was Prosecution Counsel in this case and brought to the attention of the court the prosecution’s failure to disclose a download of numerous text messages, which shed doubt on the complainant’s evidence. This led to the trial collapsing and other concerns being raised more widely in relation to other failures to disclose and several other cases collapsing as well.
On the 21st December, Bob Neill MP, Chair of the Commons Justice Committee said:
“It was an independently instructed member of the Bar, Mr Jerry Hayes, who was responsible for highlighting the clear failure of the Crown Prosecution Service and the police in this case.”
The Attorney General’s response included the following:
“We owe a debt of gratitude to those involved in the system, in whatever capacity, who exercise their judgment in such cases. That applies, of course, to this particular counsel”.
You can click here for the full record of the Attorney General’s questions and responses.
Jerry was also invited to appear live on This Morning Britain, ITV on 22nd January 2018 to debate anonymity for those accused of rape. You can click here to access the recording at 12.14pm. He also appeared on 24th January 2018, on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4 to further discuss the disclosure failures. You can access the interview here just after 7.50am. On the same day, Jerry was then interviewed on BBC News at Broadcast House and appeared on 25th January on the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2.
