Judge critical of police efforts to look after domestic abuse 'victim'

The woman did not come to Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to give evidence in the trial of 26-year-old Dean McAllister, who was accused of beating her in July.

The trial had been adjourned from the previous day, when the district judge issued a witness summons when the woman did not attend court.

But District Judge Kamlesh Rana tore into the efforts made by the police and prosecution to ensure her attendance at the trial.

It followed concerns being raised by the alleged victim’s mother on Wednesday night about a ‘lack of care’ being shown by the prosecuting authorities or support for the young woman’s ‘special needs’.

“I am very sad and very concerned to hear this, but I lay this situation firmly at the door of the police officer who dealt with [the complainant] when a statement was taken,” the judge said.

Charlie Moss, for McAllister, said that a note of those needs were taken in a police pocket notebook – with the relevant detail served on the defendant’s lawyers.

Prosecutor Peter Ryman chronicled the troubled history of efforts by the witness care service and Thames Valley Police to ensure the complainant’s attendance at court.

An email chain between the witness care service and a police officer in the case showed concerns, first raised in mid-October, that the complainant had not engaged with the former.

It was not until November 4 that the police officer replied that he would ‘try his best’ to contact the woman but as the matter was now with the Crown Prosecution Service he had ‘limited availability to conduct a ‘welfare check’.

He emailed the witness care service almost a week later to inform them he had spoken to the complainant, who claimed not to have heard from the court’s witness service. She was a ‘bit nervous’, he said, but had been reassured she would have ‘special measures’ – enabling her to give evidence from behind a screen.

District Judge Rana questioned the officer’s suggestion that he had ‘limited availability’ to get involved in the case once it had gone to the CPS.

Mr Ryman, for the CPS, noted the pressures on police resources that had been ‘cut to the bone’.

The judge refused the Crown’s request to adjourn the trial and dismissed the case against McAllister, who is a serving prisoner.

She said: “I place this squarely at the door of either the police or the CPS in failing to take care of this witness and it’s not fair on Mr McAllister that I carry on adjourning and adjourning in the hope the witness will attend court or on the hope that someone will put in specific measures to assist her in coming to court. I’m not granting the adjournment.”

Thames Valley Police was approached for comment.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward