Appeals on behalf of three men convicted of abduction and rape based on new medical evidence been refused by the High Court of Justiciary. The three men, Brian Meighan, Kevin Kane, and David Pugh, were each sentenced to 6 years imprisonment.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred the case due to new evidence concerning genital injuries which had not been heard at the original trial. Three medical professionals led evidence that developments in their field since the trial have shown that genital injuries could not be used to express an opinion on whether sexual intercourse was consensual. The trial judge had directed the jury that the complainer’s testimony could be corroborated by either her distress or the evidence of her injuries.
Lord Carloway said: “The purpose of the new evidence… is to demonstrate that the evidence of genital injuries, at least per se, is of no assistance to a determination of whether sexual intercourse was consensual or not. Where substantially the same evidence was available from other experts at the time of the trial, the new material cannot qualify as evidence for which there is a reasonable explanation for it not being adduced at that time… Testimony of a substantially similar nature could have been adduced at the trial.” He added: “The research may be new, but the facts are not.”