On 8th October 2020, at the Court of Appeal before a panel chaired by Lord Justice Holroyd, Charlotte Baines successfully resisted the appeal made on behalf of serial rapist Mark Scott against his conviction on one of 10 counts of rape and attempted rape and against his sentence of 20 years with an extended licence period of 8 years.
The Appellant had argued that contact between a jury member and one of the complainants after the verdict lead to the possibility that the Guilty verdict in the respect of offences against that complainant was unsafe, and also that taking all factors into account the extended sentence passed was manifestly excessive.
In dismissing the Appeal, the court having considered the case of Khan [2009] held that there was no evidence the juror had shown any bias in reaching the verdict in question or that the Jury in returning the unanimous verdict of guilty on that count had been in any way affected by any partiality the juror might have had during the trial. Further the court held that in considering all the factors in each count, whilst the sentence might be regarded as stiff it was not manifestly excessive.
Lord Justice Holroyd made a point of thanking Miss Baines and also counsel for the appellant for the excellent quality of their submissions and the thorough preparation of what was a very serious case.
The appeal follows the successful prosecution by Miss Baines, assisted by Michael Masson and Catherine Kioko-Gilligan as Juniors, in a trial that lasted 8 weeks between April and June 2019, in which Scott, a former prison officer, was convicted of 9 counts of rape (2 of which covered multiple offences) and 1 count of attempted rape against 6 women. In addition to the extended sentence of 28 years the Defendant was placed on the sex offenders register and made subject to notification requirements for life.