Sex defendants' anonymity considered

Matthew Kelly was cleared of all charges against him

Members of Parliament are to consider whether defendants in sexual offence cases should be given anonymity until conviction.

MPs on a standing committee are to look at an amendment to the Sexual Offences Bill which would prevent names of defendants being publicised.

The proposed changes follow a number of celebrities, including Matthew Kelly, who were publicly named as possible suspects but later cleared of any suspicion.

In June the government, which wants to retain the status quo, was defeated in the Lords over the issue.

The amendment, introduced by the Conservatives, calls for defendants in such cases, including rape, to be given the same anonymity that victims have.

Conservative Home Affairs spokesman Dominic Grieve said: "It's vitally important that when a defendant is tried, he should be tried on the evidence and not on the basis of previous adverse publicity.

"If he's never charged at the end of the day, it is quite wrong that he should be subject to the adverse publicity, when in fact there was never any foundations of the case against him."

The Home Office said it would try to have the amendments removed. Ministers say they would rather work with the police and the press to make sure that nobody is named as a suspect until they've been charged.

It has the backing of MPs concerned about the welfare of victims.

"If you allow anonymity, you're going to undermine the confidence of more and more complainants," says Labour MP Vera Baird.

"They will be less willing to come forward, less able to sustain their evidence in court and the conviction rate won't increase."