Retrial of disabled boy refused

A County Durham sex case has prompted a High Court judge to question whether mentally disabled people should be prosecuted in the criminal courts. Lord Justice Hughes made the comment while hearing an appeal centred on a 13-year-old boy accused of groping another disabled teenager.

The boy, who cannot be named, was acquitted of indecent assault at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court last year. An appeal for the boy to face a second trial was dismissed on Thursday. Both the boy and the girl involved in the case were aged 13 and attending a special school for children with learning difficulties at the time of the alleged incident in December 2004.

Magistrates acquitted the boy after ruling the girl was not competent to give evidence as she could not recall what had happened. On Thursday, Lord Justice Hughes said the magistrates had been wrong to find the girl was not competent to give evidence but said they had been entitled to find the boy not guilty.

The judge said other disciplinary action should be considered in place of subjecting vulnerable individuals to a criminal trial. He said: "Even where there is a complaint of inappropriate sexual behaviour, it should not be thought invariable that it should be investigated by means of a criminal trial, rather than disciplinary action."

Those experienced in dealing with the young and severely disabled should be co-opted to assist, he added. The Director of Public Prosecutions brought the appeal to the High Court.