|
I see a sports coach has pleaded Not Guilty to several charges of historical sex abuse. Question is a hypothetical one - is someone in that position allowed to make a formal complaint against their accusers of Conspiracy to Pervert the Course of Justice (which I assume they should only do if he/she IS innocent)?
If he or she does, do police then have to investigate these allegations?
Are they legally obliged to do so?
And if they do, is the Media entitled to carry the names of those accused of that crime? They do not, of course, get anonymity as accused perpetrators of the crimes. Likewise, since the crime is not in any way technically a sex crime, all names can be carried and all details published?
I would assume charges and/or trials would only kick in after the other trial, and the coach would be in a far stronger position if he (or she) were to be found Not Guilty at his (or her) trial.
And in that situation, would he or she be able to add any overly helpful (to the false accusers) other people to the charge?
Looking back, for example, could someone like Jim Davidson do this? Are they not entitled to Justice? Or is the kind of behaviour, whilst seeming like a modern version of Blackmail, not considered a serious crime?
|
