Panorama

Getting a Fair Trial?

Everyone has the right to a fair trial, but how sure can people be that, if it came to it, they would get one? Panorama reporter Katie Razzall investigates cases where crucial evidence had not been investigated by the police or where evidence had been withheld from defendants. One man was wrongly jailed for four years, another had the case against him thrown out just before his trial was due to start and a man was put on trial for rape despite the alleged victim saying he should not have been charged. All rape prosecutions are now being reviewed after the collapse of some high-profile trials. Former High Court judge Richard Henriques tells the programme there have been too many cases recently where only at the last moment the truth comes to light and the system must do better.