Danny Steven Kay

Danny Kay was convicted of raping a 16 year old girl on the sofa of his living room, when he was 20. The conviction was based on the complainant’s testimony. Kay initially denied knowing her but later recalled her when her workplace was mentioned. He acknowledged that he had sex with her on one occasion but claimed that it was consensual. Kay and the young woman had exchanged messages on Facebook that she had provided to the police. The messaged were provided by the complainant, but in cross-examination she accepted that she had deleted some of the messages, which she said she had done in order to free up space. In 2016, Kay’s lawyers were able to recover the full messages which indicated thatt he young woman had selectively deleted messages meaning that a misleading impressinos were given at trial. Importantly, the messages contradicted that complaintant’s account that the only contact after the alleged rape was to discuss pregnancy and the contraceptive pill. The court considered that this raised reasonable doubt about whether Kay would have been convicted if the new material had been before the jury, and quashed the conviction.

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