Metropolitan Police apologises to man falsely accused of rape after sitting on evidence that would prove his innocence

Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have apologised to a 22-year-old student after evidence was witheld in a rape trial which would have cleared his name.

Liam Allan, 22, was falsely charged with 12 counts of rape and spent two years on bail while police sat on 40,000 messages from his accuser, which would have cleared his name.

Mr Allan, of Penge, had been banned from attending the University of Sussex as his past was investigated, and he faced 20 years in jail if he had been found guilty.

The case was thrown out of Croydon Crown Court in December when the evidence came to light.

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The messages retrieved from the accusers phone showed her pestering Mr Allan for casual sex as well as messages to her friends about enjoying sleeping with him.

The evidence came to light when prosecution barrister Jerry Hayes had ordered police to hand over all the evidence in the case, which included a computer disc with the messages which proved Mr Allen's innocence.

Judge Peter Gower found him not guilty on all counts and demanded an investigation "at the very highest level".

He added: "Something has gone very, very wrong in the way this case was investigated and brought to court."

On Friday (January 26), a National Disclosure Improvement Plan was agreed by the CPS, National Police Chiefs' Council and College of Policing.

Met Police and the CPS apologised to Liam Allan over their mistake (Image: BBC News)

The Met's review also found the need to develop a local plan, a protocol for examining digital media and additional disclosure training, as well as a dedicated disclosure expert in each borough.

Met Police Commander Richard Smith met with Mr Allan on Monday (January 29) after the Met's review into its own failures concluded and apologised for their part in his ordeal.

"It is clear from our review that both the Met and the CPS did not carry out disclosure procedures properly in this case," he said.

"Although we are confident there was no malicious intent in this case, it was important that we carried out this urgent review and learn lessons from it.

"Those lessons will now be adopted across not only the sexual offences teams, but across the Met.

"The review of our live cases is ongoing - to expedite this process, and show our commitment to ensuring we have complied with processes, we have drafted in 120 officers to work full time on it.

"There are important lessons for us to learn from this case. Equally, there are important lessons for the criminal justice system."

A review is being carried out into every live sex crime case (Image: PA)

Chief Crown Prosecutor for London South Claire Lindley was also in the meeting and said: "This case has highlighted some systemic and deep-rooted issues that have been apparent to those working in the criminal justice system for some time.

"The prosecutors involved in this case did not sufficiently challenge the police about digital material. That meant that it took longer than was necessary to drop Mr Allan's case.

"For that, the CPS has offered an unreserved apology to him which I delivered to him in person yesterday.

"It is vital that lessons are learned from this case and others which have come to light over recent weeks where disclosure obligations have not been met.

"It is incumbent on all parties in the criminal justice system to ensure that these issues are addressed, and we have been working with our partners since last summer on a range of measures designed to improve performance in this crucial area.

"We continue to work with the Metropolitan Police to identify any individual cases of concern as a matter of urgency. Senior prosecutors are assessing all live rape and serious sexual assault cases to check they are satisfied that disclosure obligations have been met.

"It is right that we satisfy ourselves that decisions are being made as soon as they possibly can be."