 A man who walked free after being found guilty of raping a teenage girl will have his conviction reviewed – as prosecutors admitted 'mistakes were made' during his trial. Sean Hogg suffered a 'miscarriage of justice' after being convicted of raping the 13-year-old girl in 2018, when he was 17, an appeal court heard. Hogg, now 22, insists he was wrongfully convicted of repeatedly attacking the girl in Dalkeith Park, Midlothian in Scotland. He was spared a prison sentence due to his age and sentenced to 270 hours unpaid work by Judge Lord Lake at Glasgow's High Court in April. He would have been jailed for four or five years had he been aged over 25, the judge said. Prosecutors at Scotland's Crown Office had intended to challenge Hogg's sentence, described as 'unduly lenient'. However, Scotland's most senior judges will now review whether the conviction should be quashed, due to legal mistakes – including a 'factual error on behalf of the trial judge'. The complainant has been left 'devastated' by the decision and maintains she 'told the truth', the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh heard. Both the advocate depute (prosecutor) and the trial judge were identified as having failed to push for more detail or issue adequate directions to the jury, the appeal court was told. Solicitor General Ruth Charteris KC said: 'The Crown's position is clear, mistakes were made at the trial. 'The trial judge referred to distress in (one of the incidents), that was wrong.' Referring to that incident, she said there was no evidence of penetration. She added there were issues with corroboration, 'a factual error on behalf of the judge', and that the Crown 'sought to amend the verdict'. Ms Charteris said there were 'three main issues, the decision to direct the jury on distress; an error made in directions, and also the verdict returned by the jury'. Judge L){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A man who walked free after being found guilty of raping a teenage girl will have his conviction reviewed – as prosecutors admitted ‘mistakes were made’ during his trial.
Sean Hogg suffered a ‘miscarriage of justice’ after being convicted of raping the 13-year-old girl in 2018, when he was 17, an appeal court heard.
Hogg, now 22, insists he was wrongfully convicted of repeatedly attacking the girl in Dalkeith Park, Midlothian in Scotland.
He was spared a prison sentence due to his age and sentenced to 270 hours unpaid work by Judge Lord Lake at Glasgow’s High Court in April.