Nick Robinson secures acquittal after eight-day trial at Bournemouth Crown Court
10th June 2026
3PB Barristers’ specialist criminal defence barrister Nick Robinson has successfully defended his client ME, who was charged with rape.
Nick’s client was arrested on suspicion of rape following an incident in Bournemouth in 2025. The complainant alleged ME had raped her after she changed her mind and refused to perform a sex act on him after having agreed to do so for money.
The defence case was that the sexual activity was consensual, agreed in advance for payment, and that the complaint followed a dispute about the money when he gave her his bank card instead of cash.
On reviewing the extensive unused material, the defence identified footage from residential CCTV cameras, together with forensic toxicology and scene photographs, none of which had been relied on by the prosecution. That evidence was placed before the jury.
Nick also secured a legal direction, following R v Lawrance [2020] EWCA Crim 971, that a failure to pay cannot in law turn an otherwise consensual act of intercourse into rape.
Following the eight-day trial at Bournemouth Crown Court before HHJ Fuller KC, the jury found ME not guilty.
The case was widely reported, including by BBC News and Sky News.
Nick was instructed by Dwayne Lewis of Renshaw Derrick Solicitors.
To contact or instruct Nick, please email Chambers Director Stuart Pringle or telephone 01962 868884.
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