Robbery suspect goes free after judge bans victim from giving evidence - because she was 'too believable'

Robbery suspect goes free after judge bans victim from giving evidence - because she was 'too believable'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:59 PM on 13th January 2009

A yob accused of robbing a driving instructor walked free from court after a judge ruled his alleged victim was 'too believable' to give evidence.

Mother-of-two Denise Dawson, 36, was praised for being 'honest, utterly decent and brave' when she testified against Liam Perks, 20.

But the trial was stopped on the first day because Judge Jamie Tabor QC ruled her good character may unfairly sway the jury against the defendant.

He decided that her solitary, split-second identification of the man accused of robbing her was simply not enough.


Too believable: Driving instructor Denise Dawson was robbed by a gang as she taught a pupil but the case was dismissed because she was too honest

Judge Tabor said he feared the upstanding member of the community might just sway the jury in a case where the evidence fell short.

He told Bristol Crown Court: 'Denise Dawson was a particularly impressive witness because she showed courage, clarity of thought and was undoubtedly honest.

'The jury may lend more weight to her evidence than her facts allow. You cannot be sure she got it right.

'Had this been the Archbishop of Canterbury's son, would I have allowed (the trial) to go on? The answer is no.'

Mrs Dawson was furious after the ruling, which she branded a 'kick in the teeth', and said she is terrified because her alleged assailant is still walking the streets.

She added: 'The whole incident was a nightmare and I felt sick when I was told the trial had collapsed. What more can I do?

'I positively identified someone from a video ID parade and was prepared to risk everything in going to court but it's still not enough.'

The driving instructor was attacked by a gang of yobs as she was teaching a pupil on an estate in Bristol in December 2007.

They were practicing hill starts when the gang surrounded the car and smashed the rear window with a brick before reaching in and grabbing a laptop.

Mrs Dawson chased him and asked for it back but he refused. When she returned to her car, she found another man rifling through her glove box.

She managed to grab him and have a good look at his face, later identifying him as Perks at an identity parade. He denied to police that he had taken part in the robbery.

In court, the judge ruled her evidence alone was not enough and that she could influence the jury in her favour because of her good character.

Her pupil was unable to identify anyone who took part in the robbery.

Despite calling a halt to the trial, Judge Tabor then offered her a £250 bravery award for her actions.

Perks, from Henbury, Bristol, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle for his role in the thefts of motorcycles and prestige cars, the jury was told at the end of the case.

He will be sentenced for that offence at a later date.

Judge Tabor gave Yvonne Godwin, from Cheltenham, a 12-month suspended sentence after she admitted trying to poison her husband after he cheated on her.

She put rat poison in a cake baked for him but the judge said she should not be jailed because she was not a 'criminal in any shape or form'.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1114067/Robbery-suspect-goes-free-judge-bans-victim-giving-evidence--believable.html