Evidence of uncharged acts of violence in domestic violence and sexual offence cases may be admitted for three distinct purposes: establishing the violent relationship, providing context for the charged offences, and explaining the complainant's behaviour (such as passivity or submission). A direction referring to 'context' rather than 'relationship' for uncharged sexual acts will usually be adequate; the customary direction modelled on R v Dolan and R v Beserick will usually occasion no miscarriage. No direction on the standard of proof for uncharged acts is required where those acts do not constitute links in a chain of sequential reasoning.
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