Inquiries launched into ‘predatory’ victim comments

Paedophile Nigel Wilson, 41, walked free from court with an eight-month suspended sentence after admitting he engaged in sexual activity with the teenage girl at his home. Police also found images of child abuse and bestiality at his home in Romford, Essex.

The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced. Prosecutor Robert Colover

The attorney general’s office is reviewing the sentence, and raised questions over the language used by the prosecution.

The sentence was given after comments from barrister Robert Colover, who told London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday: “The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced.”

Judge Nigel Peters said he took into account that the girl looked and behaved older than she was when he was deciding on the abuser’s sentence.

It is not consistent with the work that we have undertaken alongside the judiciary and others in the past year to improve attitudes towards victims of abuse. CPS

He told Wilson: “The girl was predatory and was egging you on. That is no defence when dealing with children but I am prepared to impose a suspension.”

‘Real concern’

Both Mr Colover and Judge Peters are now facing separate inquiries into their conduct. Mr Colover has been suspended from prosecuting sexual offence cases while his conduct is reviewed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

“The word predatory in this context should not have been used and is of real concern to the CPS,” a statement said.

“It is not consistent with the work that we have undertaken alongside the judiciary and others in the past year to improve attitudes towards victims of abuse.

It isn’t appropriate. We need a criminal justice system that stands up properly for victims. David Cameron

“We expect all of our prosecutors, including self-employed barristers who act on our behalf, to follow our guidance in these very difficult cases.

“The director of public prosecutions will be undertaking a review of this case to determine what happened and to decide what action needs to be taken.

“We are now considering the involvement of this barrister in sexual offence prosecutions and have advised his chambers that we will not instruct him in any on-going or future cases involving sexual offences in the meantime.”

Meanwhile, Judge Peters’ remarks are to be investigated by the Office for Judicial Complaints. A statement from the watchdog said: “The Office for Judicial Complaints has received a number of complaints about the remarks made by HHJ Peters QC during the sentencing of a defendant at Snaresbrook Crown Court on August 5.

“The complaints will be considered in accordance with the Judicial Discipline Prescribed Procedure Regulations 2006.”

The row over the case comes as the head of the judiciary in England and Wales called for a change in the way complex child abuse cases are handled by judges, amid concerns that child witnesses are not treated appropriately by lawyers in court. He proposed that these cases are dealt with by a select pool of judges with specialist training deal with.

David Cameron said on Wednesday that he backed the CPS.

“It isn’t appropriate. We need a criminal justice system that stands up properly for victims,” he said.

‘It is the abuser who is guilty’

Children’s charity Barnardo’s insisted that young people cannot consent to being abused. Alison Worsley, deputy director of strategy at Barnardo’s, said: “Children can never truly consent to their own abuse. It is plain wrong to imply in any way that the experiences of sexually exploited children are something they bring on themselves.

“It is difficult to imagine the torment experienced by the vulnerable victims of crimes such as these. Many turn in on themselves and have feelings of shame and even self-loathing on top of the psychological scars inflicted by the abuser.

It is plain wrong to imply in any way that the experiences of sexually exploited children are something they bring on themselves – Alison Worsley, Barnardo’s

“It takes immense bravery for these young people to relive their ordeal in a court of law and we must not forget that it is the abuser who is guilty and not the victim.”

The Attorney General’s Office said that a decision on the sentence will be made within 28 days and that law officers would be requesting information from the CPS.

Online petition

Attention was brought to this specific case after an online petition on change.org called for the CPS to investigate the language used by Mr Colover. The petition has now received the backing of almost 30,000 people in just over a day.

Jo, (surname withheld), a sexual abuse survivor who started the petition, said it was a “real victory in the fight against victim blaming”.

“When I heard what this man had said I was sure he would end up getting away with it – but 30,000 people sent a huge message on change.org that we will not stand for blaming the victims of sexual abuse for what has happened to them…I hope it’s the start of a real step change in how the legal establishment deals with these kinds of case.”

The petition stated: “It’s unacceptable that the crown prosecutor – the person who this young girl was relying on to help get her justice – used this kind of language in court.”