Hill Twine Solicitors
Client Found Not Guilty of Rape and Assault by Penetration Image
Back to News & Blog

Client Found Not Guilty of Rape and Assault by Penetration

Hill Twine Solicitors represented GR, who was acquitted after a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court of three allegations of rape and assault by penetration. GR, a former Royal Marine, had been accused of raping a fellow employee whilst working at a Leisure Park near Weymouth. He denied all allegations. He was facing a likely sentence of 8 years imprisonment if convicted.

GR appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court unrepresented, having parted ways with his original legal representatives.   Hill Twine Solicitors was requested by the Crown Court judge to cross-examine certain witnesses on GR’s behalf (a safeguarding appointment made by a court under section 38 of the Youth Justice & Criminal Evidence Act 1999 in certain cases where the accused is not legally represented.  It prevents a complainant and specified witnesses being directly questioned by the person being accused).

Acting as the court-appointed advocate, Kevin Hill gained the trust of GR, who then requested full representation by Hill Twine Solicitors for all future conduct of his case.  We were pleased to be able to secure legal aid to represent him.  

Although picked up at a late stage, we familiarised ourselves with GR’s instructions and the issues in his case. Having a very short timeframe between our first meeting with GR and the trial, we deployed our experienced Crown Court Team to ensure that his case was fully prepared and could proceed as planned.  We are very proud of our Team who rose to the challenge and did a marvellous job of preparing the case for trial.

Kevin Hill gained the trust of GR, who then requested full representation by Hill Twine Solicitors for all future conduct of his case

With the trial date fixed, it transpired that the Crown Prosecution Service did not have an advocate available to prosecute the case. They instructed King’s Counsel at the last minute. Hill Twine Solicitors quickly responded, making an application to the Court to extend GR’s representation order to include representation by King’s Counsel.  We took this action to ensure equality of arms throughout the trial.  We instructed Jeremy Wainwright KC of 3 Temple Gardens, three days before the trial commenced on 16 January 2023. 

Mr Wainwright KC was supported throughout by our Juliet Osborne, who attended each day of trial to assist counsel, taking instructions from our client, responding to developments as the case progressed, and keeping a thorough note of the evidence. 

The crucial issue in this case was consent. Both parties agreed that sexual intercourse had taken place. The law, as defined by section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, provides that three elements must be present for a rape to be proved:

  1. Intentional penetration by A
  2. Lack of consent by B
  3. Lack of reasonable belief in B’s consent by A

We are very proud of our Team who rose to the challenge and did a marvellous job of preparing the case for trial

GR’s account was that the complainant was consenting, and that he reasonably believed that she was. Indeed, the evidence given by the complainant at trial indicated that it would have been difficult for our client to know/believe that she was not consenting.  The prosecution was therefore unable to prove the third element of the offence.

On 24 January 2023, the jury returned verdicts of ‘not guilty’ on all three counts of rape and assault by penetration. 

In this case, Hill Twine’s expert and dedicated team was able to pick up a very serious case at the eleventh hour, preparing it fully for trial and ensuring the best interests of our client were met in acting swiftly to secure the best possible counsel.  We are proud of the high-quality service we provided to GR, giving him the best criminal defence representation and the outcome he wanted.

Read more about our successful outcomes for our clients here, and visit our News & Blog page for more:

Read More
Criminal Defence
Motoring Offences
Armed Forces
Youth Justice

If you have any questions or need advice

Contact