Reference no: EM133460171

Case Study: You attend the magistrates' court to represent Liam Evans who is appearing in court from police custody charged with an offence of rape. You represented Liam whilst he was at the police station and are familiar with the allegation and evidence the prosecution will be relying on in this case.

The complainant is Rafiq Hussein who claims that he met Liam two weeks ago at a club and ended up inviting him back to his flat for a coffee and chat. Later, whilst in his flat, Rafiq claims that Liam tried to kiss him at which point he asked Liam to leave. It is then alleged that Liam raped Rafiq on the floor of the living room. The police have forensic evidence confirming that Liam did have sexual intercourse with Rafiq at this location in the flat.

After the alleged rape, Rafiq telephoned a friend claiming he had been raped and was advised to report this to the police. It then took the police two weeks to locate Liam. He is unemployed and does not have a settled address. He was eventually arrested in another part of the country where he was living rough.

When arrested, Liam made threats towards Rafiq, claiming that he would "sort him out good and proper" as he knew where he lived. Liam accepts that he did say this but tells you that it was only said in the heat of the moment and he had no intention to do this. He also explained this to the police subsequently when interviewed.

At Liam's first interview his right to access to legal advice was postponed by a superintendent (you can assume this was done lawfully under s.58(8) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984). At Liam's first interview he lied to the police and claimed that he did not know Rafiq and had not gone back to Rafiq's flat that evening. Liam was subsequently interviewed when you represented him.

Liam's instructions to you were that he had panicked when he was originally interviewed as he was too embarrassed to admit to having had sexual intercourse with Rafiq as he has never admitted to anyone that he is gay. He then told you that he had gone back to Rafiq's flat where consensual sexual intercourse did take place. He also explained that after having sex, Rafiq got upset with Liam when he told Rafiq he didn't want to continue the relationship.

You advised Liam to put forward his defence of consent and also explain why he had lied in his first interview (for the purpose of this assessment you can assume that Liam did this in his subsequent interview.)

Liam, who is aged 25, has one previous conviction for sexual assault, 10 years ago. This related to an incident at school when he touched a girl's breasts. He pleaded guilty to this and attended all of his hearings in the youth court and complied with his bail condition not to communicate or have any contact with the complainant. Liam was brought up in the town where the offence is alleged to have been committed and all his family still live in the area. Liam is presently unemployed but he has been offered a job by his uncle working as a fork-lift truck driver at his factory which is in the area. Liam has been told that he can live at his parents' address nearby. He also believes his father will be prepared to act as his surety, but he has not yet been able to speak to him about this.

When you arrive at court you speak to the prosecutor who confirms that she will be opposing Liam's application for bail when the case is adjourned after it is sent to the Crown Court under the Section 51 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 sending procedure.

Question: what kind of questions would be asked and how shall it be answered