About this episode

This episode delves into the complexities of cross-examination in a Crown Court rape trial, focusing on the reliability of the complainant's testimony amidst evidential challenges.

Episode 9 of Rape on Trial sees us back in Crown Court for the second day of Faruq's rape trial. Plunging straight back into cross-examination, the defence sets out to problematise, not the complainant’s credibility, but her reliability—dealing with the evidential difficulties posed by her level of intoxication and its implications re memory fragmentation, confabulation and contamination. We see how defence advocacy works in practice: how these issues are probed, how ‘false memories’ are argued, how evidence like CCTV footage and cell-site data does not speak for itself, and the inferences juries may be asked to draw in cases where a complainant can’t remember. This episode examines the messy and emotive reality of rape trials and the sometimes uncomfortable tension between fairness to the accused and compassion for the complainant. Key topics and elements raised in this episode: cross-examination of the complainant; putting the defence case and the rule in Browne v Dunn (1893) 6 R. 67, H.L.; evidence of other prosecution witnesses--testimony and agreed statements; contamination; the officer in the case and evidence of the defendant's police interview. Rape on Trial is a…

More episodes of Rape on Trial

• 18. Kevin's Trial part 2 · May 5, 2026 · 1h 3m
• 15. Omar's Trial · February 9, 2026 · 45 min
• 14. Patrick's Trial part 3 · January 24, 2026 · 1h 28m
• 13. Patrick's Trial part 2 · January 3, 2026 · 1h 13m
• 12. Patrick's Trial part 1 · December 20, 2025 · 54 min
• 11. Faruq's Trial part 4 · December 9, 2025 · 1h 7m

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