Where an accused absconds and contributes to delay between complaint and trial, the critical delay for the Longman direction is the period between the alleged offence and when the accused was put on notice of the allegations, not the total delay to trial. The observations of Deane J and McHugh J in Longman concerning fragility of childhood recollection have never been given authoritative force and should be treated with caution in light of psychological research on child witness reliability. Where there is significant delay, there is an irrebuttable presumption of prejudice to the accused.
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