Andy Burnham to ‘look closely’ at reforming rape trials to encourage more women to come forward

Andy Burnham has said he will look at changing rape trials to encourage more women to come forward and “get the conviction rate up”.

The Prime Minister said lawmakers needed to look at how to “make sure they do not leave the woman feeling like she is on trial in court”.

It comes after disgraced comedian Russell Brand, 51, was convicted on Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.

Mr Burnham told Times Radio he would “look closely” at what Sir Mark Rowley said after the Metropolitan Police Commissioner backed calls to change legislation to tackle “rape myths”.

Mr Burnham said: “I think we need to constantly look at the way rape trials are conducted to make sure that they do not leave the woman feeling like she is on trial in court, as has been the experience of people in the past.

“So I will look closely at what Sir Mark Rowley is saying. Always prepared to make changes. We need to encourage more women to come forward to report rape.

“We need to get the conviction rate up. It has improved, but not enough. We need to do more to support victims of sexual assault and rape, and we will do that as well.

“All of this is part of our broader agenda as a government, combating violence against women and girls.”

Asked whether he would consider making changes in the law, the Prime Minister said: “I wouldn’t rule anything out, of course not. I mean, I will study what’s happened here in great detail.”

It comes after Victims Commissioner Claire Waxman said juries should be warned about “rape myths”, criticising “outdated and harmful assumptions” that victims must have screamed or tried to fight off their attacker.

During Brand’s trial, the disgraced star’s defence lawyer Ian Winter KC told the court that none of the complainants had “resisted or screamed or even tried to leave”.

Ms Waxman said: “The idea that rape victims must scream, physically resist or immediately report an offence is a well-established rape myth, rooted in outdated and harmful assumptions about how victims are expected to behave.

“That’s why I am calling for a legal duty in the Courts and Tribunals Bill, requiring judges to direct juries on rape myths and misconceptions in every rape trial.”

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Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said some of what he heard reported from Russell Brand’s trial was “getting very close to victim blaming”.

He said: “People fall into myths about (how) a rape victim must behave in a certain way, must react in a certain way. The evidence is really clear.

“Some people will fight. Some people will freeze. Some people will tell people straight away. Some people bottle it up for years. There isn’t one way of reacting.

“We understand that, it shouldn’t be possible for inaccurate statements to be made to a jury to suggest that because a rape victim didn’t behave in one way, that somehow that undermines their case, when the evidence is very clear, we’re all very different sort of psychological and personal make-up, and in the most extraordinary horrific moments, of course, people react very differently.”

Elsewhere, Mr Burnham said he had “no idea” about the extent of Russell Brand’s wrongdoing when he and other senior Labour figures engaged with the disgraced comedian.

The Prime Minister said “it’s not always the case that people know everything about people in public life”, and that Brand’s crimes are “horrific”.

Mr Burnham publicly supported Brand in 2014 after a story in The Sun about his housing arrangements.

The newspaper revealed he paid rent on his London home to a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The Prime Minister, at the time an opposition frontbencher, said in a message on social media: “Depressing to see media mission to discredit someone who stops playing their game & uses celebrity to help others. Keep going @rustyrockets [Brand’s social media handle]”

When asked about Labour’s support for Brand at the time, Mr Burnham said: “Well, over a decade ago. And all I can say is, I had no idea of the full extent of what he was doing or what he went on to do.

“His crimes are horrific. He’s rightly been held to account, justice for the victims and that is the right course that’s been taken here. It’s not always the case that people know everything about people in public life, but what is important is that where there is wrongdoing, it is exposed.

“And as I say again, credit to the victims, huge credit, the courage that it’s taken, but also the journalists who have exposed this.”