'Altered' victim's account sparks appeal by Zim rapist in Northern Ireland

A CONVICTED Zimbabwe born rapist living in Northern Ireland has had his case referred to the Court of Appeal after claims his victim's statement was altered by the Public Prosecution Service.

Tonderai Chakwana convicted at Belfast Crown Court in 2009 of raping a woman the previous year.

The trial centred on the issue of whether sex was consensual, with Chakwana arguing it had been.

A jury rejected his account and he was jailed for six years.

He was refused leave to appeal and, in October 2010, applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body which investigates suspected miscarriages of justice in the UK.

The commission has referred the conviction to the Court of Appeal after concluding there was a real possibility it will be quashed.

One of the issues relates to a statement provided by the victim. In the statement, the woman said she had been raped by Chakwana, but confirmed she had sexual relationships with a number of his friends.

However, when the commission examined the case, it discovered the statement had been edited by a PPS member of staff.

The sentence about the victim having liaisons with Chakwana's friends had been removed.

Charlene Graham, from Trevor Smyth & Co solicitors, who has taken up the case, said it was a serious incident.

"The person who took out this line claimed that the defence could not cross-examine a rape complainant on her previous sexual history, but that isn't correct," she told the Belfast Telegraph.

"There is legislation which does allow us to cross-examine if it's relevant. The person who makes that decision â€" the only person â€" is the trial judge."

According to Ms Graham, a disclosure schedule should have been provided, warning that the statement had been edited.

"If we saw that a rape victim's statement had been edited, we would want to know why, but this wasn't marked," she added.

Chakwana served half his sentence before being released and now faces being deported.

Ms Graham said the case raised questions about whether more statements were edited and the safety of other convictions.

The case will be heard by the Court of Appeal, which can quash the conviction or order a retrial.

A spokesperson for the PPS said it was "inappropriate to comment" because the matter was still before the courts.

A commission statement said: "Having reviewed the case, the commission has decided to refer the conviction to the Court of Appeal because it believes several issues raise a real possibility that the court will quash the conviction.

"Those issues include the non-disclosure of a key witness statement, the admissibility at trial of 'recent complaint' evidence, and potential inadequacies in the judge's direction to the jury regarding that recent complaint evidence."

During the trial, the jury was told the victim and her friend had been drinking in her house. Tonderai Chakwana and a friend called at the house in the early hours of the following morning. The victim went to bed and when she woke, she checked her mobile phone and saw she had a text from Chakwana.

She realised Chakwana had raped her during the night. However, Chakwana, who is originally from Zimbabwe, always insisted sex was consensual.