Nick Robinson secures acquittal for vulnerable defendant

15th April 2026

3PB Barristers’ specialist criminal defence barrister Nick RobinsonNick RobinsonCall: 2006 has secured the acquittal of a vulnerable young defendant.

The prosecution’s case was that vulnerable defendant, then aged 18, had raped a 15-year-old girl at a residential address in November 2021. The defendant had a full-scale IQ of 64 (first percentile), the language skills of a child aged between six and nine, markedly impaired memory and pronounced suggestibility under pressure. The complainant was also a vulnerable witness, and both she and the defendant were assisted throughout by registered intermediaries.

The case turned on defendant's two lengthy police interviews — said by the Crown to be replete with lies and inconsistencies — and a short video recorded at the scene, which the prosecution said placed the complainant inside the defendant's home. When the Court raised concerns as to admissibility, Nick drafted written submissions to persuade the Judge to allow the key findings of the defence clinical psychologist about the defendant's cognitive difficulties to go before the jury as agreed facts.

Nick invited the jury, in closing, to view the interviews through the prism of how the defendant's mind worked under pressure — and, in the alternative, to recognise that even if defendant had lied in interview there remained good reason to doubt the prosecution case.

Following a five-day trial, the jury returned a not guilty verdict.

Writing after the verdict, the defendant’s mother said afterwards: “Your preparation was meticulous, your manner was calm under pressure, and your advocacy was outstanding… He has a lot of difficulty, and you never let that become an obstacle.”

Nick was instructed by Patricia Sheehan of Owen & Sharpe Solicitors.

To contact or instruct Nick, please email Chambers Director Stuart Pringle on [email protected] or telephone 01962 868884.