Clause 81 - ''Bad character''
Criminal Justice Bill
10:30 am
Mr Hilary Benn (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Leeds Central, Labour)
I hear the hon. Gentleman. He is not persuaded, but the Government take a different view. The contrary argument might be to consider somebody who has been tried and acquitted twice for rape and is tried for rape a third time. Is that evidence of bad character? It goes to the heart of the issue. The hon. Gentleman might say that it does not indicate bad character, because the person was acquitted and is therefore entitled to claim that he is of good character. Does common sense suggest, to put it in a very un-lawyerly way, that that information may be relevant, subject to the tests and protections of clause 84? Should it be excluded in all circumstances? If that is the hon. Gentleman's argument, I do not agree.