Where there are years of delay between alleged childhood sexual offences and the making of a complaint leading to prosecution, a strong Longman direction will commonly be required. The existence of some corroboration and some complaint evidence does not dispense with this requirement where the delay is extreme (approximately 20 years) and the corroboration is not of great strength. Trial judges must direct the jury unequivocally that the delay has necessarily impaired the fairness of the trial and that childhood recollections are liable to distortion with the likelihood of error increasing with delay.
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