SOUTHERN ENGLAND — Annie is suing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over its handling of her case involving alleged childhood abuse by her stepfather. Lawyers at the Centre for Women's Justice (CWJ) are representing Annie, arguing the prosecution breached her human rights.

Annie reported her stepfather to the police in 2017. The case proceeded to trial in 2021, where the jury returned not guilty verdicts for some charges and a hung jury for others. The CPS later informed Annie they would not be seeking a retrial, and she subsequently received a letter stating her stepfather had been acquitted of all charges.

Annie's complaint alleges that prosecutors did not apply to introduce bad character evidence about her stepfather. The CPS has since admitted to Annie that they made a legal error by not adducing all of the bad character evidence. Kate Ellis, a solicitor at the Centre for Women's Justice, said: "In Annie's case there appear to have been so many bases on which the CPS could have applied to introduce the bad character evidence." Ellis added: "This is why, we think, the CPS has admitted to getting the law wrong in response to Annie's complaint, but that admission is, sadly, too little too late."

References to domestic abuse, cruelty, and neglect Annie alleged she suffered as a child were edited out of her initial police interview. Additionally, a photograph Annie provided to police, which showed her mother's injuries after an alleged assault by the stepfather, was not presented to the jury. A solicitor's letter mentioning a violent assault on another family member and reports of police speaking to the stepfather about domestic abuse allegations were also not introduced in court.

Annie spent a year writing a complaint to the CPS. Her stepfather was charged with multiple counts of indecent assault and one count of rape. The trial process included several delays. Annie had to watch her achieving best evidence (ABE) interview multiple times before canceled court dates. "Not once in four years have I met my barrister who's going to defend me," Annie said. She stated she did not meet her CPS-allocated barrister until after watching her ABE interview again prior to the trial, and said her barrister told her, "I'm sick of your face, to be honest." One trial was abandoned after incorrect evidence was shown to the jury, prompting the police to write a letter apologizing to the judge for the inconvenience.

In 2025, an inspection report on adult rape cases found that prosecutors addressed how bad character evidence could have strengthened a case in fewer than two in 10 relevant instances.