Peers vote for sex case anonymity

MPs must vote on changes to Sexual Offences Bill

Peers have defied MPs and voted to give sex offence suspects anonymity up until the point charges are brought.

Earlier this year, Lib Dem and Tory peers changed the Sexual Offences Bill to ban identification of those charged with rape until they were convicted.

But MPs threw out the proposal despite a number of high-profile cases in which celebrities were arrested but not charged over sex offence allegations.

Now MPs will have to vote on the latest amendment put forward by Lib Dem peers.

High-profile cases

Anonymity in sex offence cases became a topical issue in January when television presenter Matthew Kelly was arrested in connection with sex abuse claims from the 1970s.

He strenuously denied the claims and no charges were ever brought but his arrest was widely reported in the media.

The Hamiltons were accused in a blaze of publicity

In other high-profile cases, sex assault allegations were made against TV This Morning presenter John Leslie and former Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were accused of rape.

Charges against Mr Leslie were dropped in the summer and the case against the Hamiltons collapsed. All three had strongly protested their innocence.

Self regulation

The government has argued that self regulation involving police and newspaper codes of practice is the best way to deal with the issue.

But calls for legislation have grown, and earlier this month Sir David Calvert-Smith, who had stepped down as director of public prosecutions three days earlier, joined them.

In an interview with The Independent newspaper he said that excessive media scrutiny could prejudice a fair trial and lead to it being abandoned.

And self-regulation would not tackle the growth of the internet and the way it was used to identify suspects, he said.