Annie sits at her kitchen table in a village in southern England, a blue folder stuffed with court documents spread in front of her. Inside are witness statements, correspondence, and the remnants of an almost decade-long legal battle. A Polaroid photograph slips out—her at 12, standing in a field beside a pony, dressed in jodhpurs and a riding hat.
“That’s what I was like when the abuse started,” she said. “I was just a developing young girl. And that’s when my childhood stopped.”
Annie reported her stepfather to police in 2017 after learning he was babysitting young relatives. She had disclosed the alleged abuse years earlier, at 18, but no action followed. This time, she decided the cycle had to end.
The trial began in 2021 after multiple delays. The jury acquitted her stepfather of some charges and deadlocked on others, including rape.
Now, she is suing the Crown Prosecution Service. Her lawyers argue the prosecution was mishandled so badly it violated her rights. One major issue was the failure to introduce bad character evidence—details of domestic abuse and neglect she says shaped her childhood.
A photograph she gave police, showing her mother’s injuries after an assault, was never shown to the jury. Neither was a solicitor’s letter describing violence against another family member. Police reports of prior domestic abuse allegations were also excluded.
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“How can I not talk about the fact that these enormous fights are going on?” Annie said. “That fear—that’s the main thing around this family. We walk on eggshells, it’s more like broken glass, all of our lives since they got married.”
She described a loaded shotgun kept behind the larder door. “How can you live a normal life when there’s a loaded shotgun there? You’re petrified that if you take a step wrong, that gun is going to come out.”
A 2025 inspection found prosecutors used bad character evidence in fewer than two in 10 relevant cases, despite its potential to strengthen prosecutions. Her experience highlights that gap.
“Sexual abuse on children doesn’t just happen in isolation,” she said. “So often there are things going on in the background—violence, intimidation, domestic abuse.”
By the time the trial started, her stepfather faced multiple counts of indecent assault and one of rape. The process was disorganized. Annie had to watch her three-and-a-half-hour achieving best evidence (ABE) interview repeatedly, only for court dates to be canceled at the last minute. When the trial finally proceeded, she met her CPS-appointed barrister.
“Not once in four years have
Days after an online meeting with the CPS, she received a letter informing her they would not seek a retrial. “I was so shocked; I just took the letter upstairs and fell back on the bed,” she said. “I couldn’t even tell my husband. I didn’t have the words.”
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Annie spent the next year drafting a complaint. The CPS eventually admitted it had erred in not pursuing the bad character evidence. With that admission, the Centre for Women’s Justice filed a civil claim against the agency on her behalf.
“In Annie’s case there appear to have been many opportunities to introduce the bad character evidence,” said Kate Ellis, a solicitor at the organization. The law allows such evidence to show a defendant’s propensity for violence against women and girls.
“This is why we believe the CPS acknowledged its mistake in response to Annie’s complaint,” Ellis said. “But the admission came too late.”
Annie flips through the folder again. “I didn’t think nearly a decade later I’d still feel like this,” she said. “Looking at the photographs and documents just tears me apart, bringing back those same emotions.”
She hopes the lawsuit will lead to change. “I see an end in sight, and I hope something positive will come of this. Other women deserve to be heard, and their abuse must be considered fully.”
A CPS spokesperson said the agency could not comment on specifics due to ongoing civil litigation. “We recognize the deep impact that rape and serious sexual offences have on victims, and we are working to improve consistency in how these cases are handled.”
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