Suicide rape victim's mum blasts defendants' rights court ruling

Scotland's chief prosecutor has said that victims of sexual offences would not have their privacy intruded on unnecessarily, after a Supreme Court judgment.

- SARAH WARD

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said that sex abuse of women and children was "the single greatest challenge our justice system faces", after five judges at the UK's highest court ruled on Tuesday that the approach taken by courts in Scotland, by restricting questions on a victim's history, "risks depriving a defendant of their right to a fair trial".

The appellants, David Daly and Andrew Keir, were both convicted of rape and other sexual offences and appealed, asking the Supreme Court to decide whether they received a fair trial, as required by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

On Tuesday, both appeals were dismissed and the Supreme Court found "on the facts, both Mr Daly and Mr Keir received a fair trial".

However, it found the Scottish courts "should modify their current approach to the admission of evidence in trials for sexual offences because it is liable to infringe defendants' rights under Article 6 of the convention".