Kevin John Brown

Kevin Brown was convicted of the rape of his girlfriends son (M). There were two main pillars of the prosecution case – evidence from a neighbour that she had heard the incident, and evidence from a joint medical examination (in which the examiners disagreed on the likely cause of an anal tear). On appeal, expert evidence was introduced to suggest that the witness evidence may have been unreliable (as a result of the witness having been in a state between sleeping and waking). Evidence also supported the contention that the anal tear could have had another cause (e.g. constipation or diarrhoea). The conviction was quashed, and no retrial was ordered since Brown had already served his sentence.