John Siddall

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Ian Brooke and John Sidall were convicted of sexual offences, including rape. It was alleged that they had been involved in a number of assaults against more than one girl, in homes in Dewsbury and Mirfield. However, the evidence was inter-dependent and pivoted around one witness known as RW, who was 13 when the offences allegedly took place. On appeal, evidence called into question RWs testimony. It was revealed that a report written, but not disclosed to the defence during the trial, stated amongst other things that RW “thrives on exaggerating events to their most theatrical extremes. She employs shock tactics in an attempt to convince adults that her problems are more severe than anyone else’s” In addition, new evidence that had not been known to the defence at trial showed that RW had previously made a rape allegation to the police that they had found to be a “complete fabrication,” that RW had previously made allegations of sexual abuse against her father and previous partners, and had been found to be lying in a later trial involving another allegation of sexual assault. The court found that had the jury had this full picture it was impossible to be certain they would have convicted the appellants.

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