A trial judge who elects not to summarise evidence under s 161 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 must still put the defence case and the matters in support of it to the jury. A Longman direction must not refer to forensic disadvantage suffered by the Crown, and must specifically address the fragility of youthful recollection where the complainant was a child at the time of the alleged offences. The jury must be directed that before they can use evidence of uncharged criminal conduct, they must be satisfied that the conduct occurred. The combination of multiple summing-up deficiencies in a word-against-word case with substantial delay will preclude application of the proviso.
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