Statement in response to press reporting of Judge Tabor

"The Judge in this case was properly applying the judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal in R v Turnbull and others (1976), which states that cases relying on fleeting glimpse identification made by a witness, with no supporting evidence, would not establish the identification of an offender to the very high standard required in a criminal case. The Turnbull judgment sought to address concerns about cases where faulty identification from compelling witnesses was leading to the possible risk of miscarriages of justice.

"This is no reflection on the witness in the case, whom the judge praised for her bravery, but simply of the circumstances of the events that took place.

"The issue here is in no sense the honesty of the witness, but the quality of her opportunity of seeing her assailant."