R v BK

In the case of R v BK, the accused, BK, was acquitted of child sexual abuse offences allegedly committed in 1985 against a 12-year-old student at a school where he was a teacher. The Crown appealed the acquittal, arguing that the trial judge failed to consider relevant tendency evidence and did not properly record findings concerning this evidence. The appeal was heard by the court of appeal, which was required to determine whether the trial judge's failure to consider and record findings on the tendency evidence constituted a legal error warranting a new trial.

The legal issues centred on whether the trial judge failed to take into account unchallenged evidence of similar child sexual abuse offences committed by BK against two other 13-year-old students between 1985 and 1987, and whether this omission constituted a failure to record necessary findings. The court examined the significance of the unchallenged tendency evidence and the trial judge's duty to give reasons for the verdict. The majority of the court found that while the trial judge did not take the tendency evidence into account, this did not constitute a legal error. However, the majority did find that the trial judge's failure to record findings concerning the tendency evidence was a legal error.

Upon considering the discretionary factors, the majority concluded that, despite the legal error, the acquittals should not be quashed, and a new trial should not be ordered. The court reasoned that the unchallenged evidence, while significant, did not undermine the reliability of the complainant's evidence, and the trial judge's overall reasoning and decision were sound. Consequently, the Crown's appeal was dismissed, and BK's acquittals were affirmed under s.107(5) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001.