J. Martin Stafford: The Prosecutor Unmask'd - Ismeron

In February 2013, the London office of the Crown Prosecution Service instructed the Greater Manchester Police to charge the Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell with a number of historic sexual offences. In doing this, they overturned the decision to drop the case made by the Chief Prosecutor for the NW 13½ months earlier at the end of 2011. There was no new evidence. In fact, there was never any evidence at all worthy of the name – merely the uncorroborated allegations of a single complainant. This book argues that the decision to prosecute Michael Le Vell was political: a cynical and unscrupulous act of opportunism committed in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.  At the trial in Manchester in September 2013, the jury took only about four hours unanimously to acquit the actor of all charges. The CPS has also lost other high-profile cases in similarly spectacular fashion. General issues raised by these cases are also briefly discussed.