Jerry Hayes on Liam Allan: ‘The system nearly failed’

A man who was accused of rape and faced at least 10 years in jail won’t now face trial after the case dramatically collapsed in court. The case against Liam Allan, who’s 22, was dropped after it emerged that police had withheld around 40,000 messages from the complainant. The judge called for an investigation “at the very highest level”, as prosecutors accused officers of “sheer incompetence”. Mr Allan said he felt betrayed by the very system which he felt would do the right thing. Prosecutor Jerry Hayes and Mr Allan’s defence lawyer, Julia Smart, discuss the case.