A senior judge has strongly criticised the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after a young farmer endured three years wrongly accused of rape, when he had secretly filmed a consensual sexual encounter and shared the footage.
Luke Winward, then 20, was arrested in June 2023 after the woman discovered he had recorded their sexual activity in a field and shown it to two friends. The video was seized as evidence, and 17 months later, prosecutors charged him with three counts of rape and one of sexual assault. He was bailed pending trial and faced a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.
However, at Chester Crown Court, Judge Steven Everett dismissed the rape and sexual assault charges after viewing the footage. He concluded that the woman had "clearly consented to sex." Instead, Winward, now 23, of Ryecroft Lane, Chester, who works on his family's dairy farm in Tarvin, was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation after admitting disclosing private sexual images.
Judge's Remarks
As Winward's mother and girlfriend watched from the public gallery, Judge Everett told him: "There is no evidence you are a sex offender. At that time you were still a young man who was only young and your utter immaturity made you do something that I know three years down the line you bitterly regret."
He added: "In truth the footage as I have had to look at it clearly shows the prosecution decision was totally without merit whatsoever. You went to a party where there were a lot of young people present. You and the complainant then went to a field outside the party and you had consensual sexual contact."
"The evidence in reality came from you because disgracefully you videoed what took place between you. In one sense that is very much against you and in another sense it assists you. When I saw the videos it was patently obvious what took place was consented to."
"What this young woman did not consent to was firstly, she did not know you were videoing her and secondly you disclosed the images. I recognise you were in drink but undoubtedly she was upset by that and it would have been humiliating for her."
"Subsequently she made a complaint and you were charged with sexual assault and three offences of rape - but for reasons that utterly escape me, the prosecution decided to proceed with those charges. There was no justification for it. You were rightly prosecuted for disclosing the images but wrongly prosecuted for sex offences."
Criticism of Prosecution
The judge continued: "Goodness knows why you decided to film this act but sadly it is not the first time I have come across this sort of behaviour. Social media may have to take some blame for young people doing this sort of thing without giving thought to it - but here are the consequences. Here you are nearly three years later waiting for sentence."
"But the prosecution do not come out of this with any favour at all. It took the police and the CPS between them, regrettably 17 months to bring charges and that was unacceptable, a delay that should never have taken place. It is important to note there was no evidence of sexual assault."
Background
The incident occurred when Winward and the woman, who cannot be named, attended a party in a village on the outskirts of Chester. Prosecutor Myles Wilson said: "They had sexual activity together and he recorded that with his phone. It seems he showed people at the party and the victim could see him doing that. A male looked over at her and did an impression of what she had just been doing."
"Certainly the defendant sent to two people recordings that night and the victim reported it to police. He denied in interview he shared the videos but obviously the police seized his phone and found the evidence." No victim personal statement was read to the court.
In mitigation, defence barrister Owen Edwards KC said: "It is obvious this was a crass decision, sure to cause offence, when drunk, in circumstances where frankly everyone can understand why it was inappropriate. But he has had an awful lot of time to dwell upon that and consider it. He is someone who had to go to his partner's mother and explain 'This is what I did' and he really has had to live with the shame."
"He currently has immense responsibilities and the burden of running the farm ultimately rests considerably upon him and his mother who has been a huge pillar of support for him during this time which admittedly he has brought upon himself. He and his family have suffered considerable anguish. He has well and truly paid the price."
