New review scheme to be rolled out across CPS Cymru-Wales following successful pilot

SURVIVORS of rape and serious sexual assault in Wales will soon have stronger rights to challenge decisions to drop their cases, as the UK Government expands a new review scheme aimed at rebuilding trust in the justice system.

The move was announced by the Solicitor General, Ellie Reeves, who confirmed the Victims’ Right to Review scheme will be extended to further Crown Prosecution Service areas — including Crown Prosecution Service Cymru-Wales from April.

The change means that when prosecutors decide there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction in rape or serious sexual offence cases, victims will be able to request that the decision is reconsidered by a different prosecutor before proceedings are formally halted.

Currently, while victims can ask for a review, it cannot alter the final outcome. The new process allows cases to continue if fresh assessment finds sufficient evidence.

The expansion follows what ministers described as “positive feedback” from an earlier pilot scheme.

The roll-out will begin with CPS North West in January, followed by Yorkshire and Humberside in February, before reaching Wales in the spring.

Dame Nia Griffith, MP for Llanelli and a long-standing campaigner on violence against women and girls, welcomed the announcement.

She said: “Violence against women and girls is rightly being treated as a national emergency. A key part of the government’s strategy is ensuring victims in Llanelli and elsewhere are given better support to help rebuild trust in the criminal justice system.

“Keeping women and girls safe needs action as well as words. This change puts more power into the hands of victims when they bravely come forward.”

Reeves said rape and sexual assault offences cause “long-lasting physical and emotional trauma” and stressed that survivors “deserve confidence that their voices have truly been heard”.

She added: “This government is committed to halving violence against women and girls. Expanding the Victims’ Right to Review will increase routes to justice and ensure victims are treated with fairness and dignity.”

Siobhan Blake, the national CPS lead for rape and serious sexual offences, said survivors often feel distressed at the prospect of their abuser never facing justice.

She said: “Our specialist prosecutors usually get it right first time, but when we don’t — and a case that could have continued is stopped — an apology alone can never feel like justice.

“Victims who have taken part so far have told us that simply having this option makes a positive difference.”

The measures form part of the UK Government’s wider Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, which aims to halve such offences over the next decade through prevention, tougher enforcement and improved victim support.

Under the new system in Wales, cases that are initially discontinued could be revived if an independent prosecutor concludes there is sufficient evidence to proceed.

Ministers say the aim is to give survivors greater confidence that every possible avenue to justice has been explored.

Magistrates decline jurisdiction over serious allegations

A JOHNSTON man has been remanded in custody after appearing in court accused of threatening a male with a knife and carrying out a violent assault.

Kenneth Mathias, 42, of Old School Lane, Johnston, appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates.

“The parties were socialising, but comments were made and one of the complainants slapped the defendant gently to the face,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan said.

“Kenneth Mathias then carried out a sustained attack, punching the complainant nine or ten times to the head.”

The court heard that when another male attempted to intervene, Mathias placed him in a chokehold, causing breathing difficulties.

“A knife was then drawn and held close to the complainant’s neck,” Ms Vaughan added.

Mathias, represented by solicitor Alaw Harries, denied wrongdoing and claimed he had acted in self-defence.

He faces multiple charges including assault, criminal damage, theft, intentional strangulation, threatening with an offensive weapon, harassment causing fear of violence, and intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction and, following an application by the Crown, Mathias was remanded in custody. He will next appear at Swansea Crown Court on March 6.

Pennar woman almost three times over legal limits

A PENNAR motorist has been banned from the roads for two years after being caught behind the wheel with three illegal drugs in her system.

Stacey Wootton, 29, was stopped by police on September 2 as she drove her Volkswagen Golf through Amphion Court, Pembroke Dock.

“The officers’ attention was drawn to a defective light on her vehicle,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told Haverfordwest magistrates.

After a roadside drug swipe proved positive, further blood tests showed Wootton had 130 micrograms of cocaine in her system, along with 800 micrograms of the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine and 2.4 micrograms of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol. The legal limits are 10, 50 and 2 respectively.

The court was told that Wootton, of Military Road, Pennar, Pembroke Dock, has no previous convictions.

After pleading guilty to three charges of drug-driving, her solicitor Mike Kelleher said she had since “taken steps to improve her lot”.

After considering a probation report, magistrates disqualified Wootton from driving for 24 months. She was fined £240 and ordered to pay a £96 surcharge and £85 costs.