Where preliminary complaint witnesses refuse to provide statements to police and do not give evidence at trial, the trial judge should direct the jury not to speculate about what those witnesses might have said or why they were absent. The jury cannot draw an inference from the witnesses' refusal to cooperate. However, such directions do not preclude the jury from reasoning that the complainant's unsupported preliminary complaint evidence should not be accepted, having regard to the absence of detail and inconsistencies in the evidence. The observation in R v PS about the weight to be given to absent preliminary complaint evidence is limited to cases where the prosecution has failed in its duty to call relevant witnesses.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 4 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.