In historical institutional child sexual abuse cases, the unavailability of witnesses who were not alibi witnesses or eyewitnesses to the alleged offending, but who may have had knowledge of the accused's movements or the surrounding circumstances, constitutes peripheral rather than central forensic disadvantage that can be adequately addressed by a forensic disadvantage direction. The public interest in prosecuting serious institutional child sexual abuse charges is entitled to very considerable weight, particularly where the delay in complaint may itself be a direct result of the conduct alleged.
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