THE experience of Sue Such is truly horrific. First she suffered the heartbreak of being attacked by her grown-up son.
Then when she reported the matter to the police, she was betrayed by a Crown Prosecution Service that simply did not do its job.
And that’s its own admission.
Like any organisation, the CPS will make the odd mistake. Show us a public or private organisation that doesn’t.
But there is always a worry that the easier course is taken in prosecution decisions: how to secure a conviction, any conviction, quickly and easily.
It takes a tremendous amount of courage from victims of violence perpetrated by loved ones to go to the police.
They need to have confidence the system will treat them sensitively and prosecute the guilty thoroughly.
In Ms Such’s case that did not happen.
The impression left is that to deal with the case quickly, the charge of common assault was laid when more thought would have led to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
It is now too late for the CPS to rectify its mistake.
Credit to it for apologising at least, but it really did let Ms Such down.
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