Leslie Warren

Leslie Warren was convicted of rape. He had been living with the complainant but she was due to move out of the house they shared. She and Warren continued to have sex from time to time. She said Warren had physically intimidated her, threatened to kill her, and physically overpowered her, causing her injury before raping her. Warren maintained that they had had intercourse but that it was consensual. She had some marks on her body but this was found to be consistent either with rough sex (which they engaged in) or rape. Therefore the case turned largely on the credibility of the complainant. On appeal, evidence was presented to show that the complainant had previously accused another man of rape but that she had retracted the allegation when he was shown to have had a strong alibi and that this had not been disclosed to the defence (she had also made two other allegations that she had later withdrawn, but the defence did know about these at trial). The court concluded that this evidence, taken together, undermined the complainant’s credibility, and that the conviction should be quashed.

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