Andy Burnham has said the government needs to make sure that victims in rape cases do not feel like they are on trial.
His comments come after Metropolitan Police boss Sir Mark Rowley told the that what he heard reported from Russell Brand’s trial came very close to “victim blaming”.
The government needs to “constantly look” at how rape trials are conducted to better support alleged victims in court, the prime minister told Times Radio, although News understands there are no plans to change the law around rape trials.
Actor and comedian Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault after a four-week trial in London.
During an interview with Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday, it was put to Sir Mark that Brand’s defence barrister Ian Winter KC “told jurors none of the complainants had in his words ‘resisted, screamed or even tried to leave'”.
Sir Mark replied: “I think what I’ve heard reported heads towards, it’s getting very close to victim blaming, which is something we’ve thought very hard about in policing and make sure we don’t do.”
He said he would support a call from the Victims’ Commissioner for a legal duty that would require judges to direct juries on rape myths and misconceptions in every rape trial.
“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 undermines their case,” Sir Mark explained.
In a Times Radio interview on Saturday, Burnham said he would “look closely” at the police chief’s comments.
He said the government needed to look at how to “make sure they do not leave the woman feeling like she is on trial in court”.
“[I’m] always prepared to make changes,” he said. “We need to encourage more women to come forward to report rape, we need to get the conviction rate up.
“All of this is part of our broader agenda as a government combatting violence against women and girls.”
Pressed on whether this might lead to a change in the law, the prime minister replied: “I wouldn’t rule anything out… I will study what’s happened here in great detail.”
Brand, who has starred in films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall, will be sentenced on Monday and is expected to face substantial jail time.
He was found not guilty of two other counts of rape, and one count of attempted indecent assault after the jury deliberated for eight-and-a-half hours.
The 51-year-old was refused bail and will spend the weekend in custody.
It has since been revealed that Brand is also facing further rape allegations made by two women and has been questioned by officers in relation to the complaints. The Met said its investigation “remains ongoing”.
Sir Mark told Breakfast he “wouldn’t be surprised if many more came forward”.
In the wake of Brand’s trial, Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman said rape trials must be conducted “in a way that challenges myths and misconceptions about sexual violence”.
In a social media post, Waxman wrote that “victims need confidence that the justice process is fair and based on evidence, not myths and false assumptions about rape and trauma”.
Speaking to the Today programme on Saturday, director and founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice Harriet Wistrich agreed that juries need to understand “underlying behaviours” without “running to judgement” over how a victim behaved in a particular way.
But former Conservative MP Anna Soubry, who has now returned to her work as a barrister where she often defends rape and sexual offence cases in the Crown court, told the “people are being misled” by Sir Mark’s comments.
“Every single judge in those cases must give, and does give, a very firm direction to the jury on exactly these points,” she said.
As a result, she said she was ” really disappointed” in the police chief and stressed “we’ve got to trust our juries” who are able to have an understanding of the nature of sexual offences.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the ‘s Action Line.