APPROPRIATENESS OF DIRECTION AS TO EFFECT OF DELAY ON IDENTIFICATION OF DEFENDANT

Where there had been a long delay in bringing a prosecution for indecent assaults, the effect of the delay on the perpetrator’s identification was often best addressed by a short, self-contained direction that focused on the defendant. Although a judge’s direction on the effect of delay on the identification of a Buddhist monk who had sexually assaulted a nine-year old girl in a temple 34 years ago had not been structured in the most appropriate way, it had not amounted to a misdirection and the resulting convictions for indecent assault were safe.