alison saunders acknowledges there isa alison saunders acknowledges there is a problem and believes theresystem. disclosure of evidence across the criminaljustice system. she was asked on the today programme whether it was possible there were people in prison who were there because of disclosure failings. i don't think so, because what these cases show is that when we take a case through to trial, there are various safeguards in place, not least of which the defence indicating what their defence is going to be. and if it is, the problem we have found recently is around the ever increasing use of social media, all the digital material. that we obtain. those comments have been heavily criticised. conservative backbencher and barrister anna soubry said she was appalled at what alison saunders said and said she was ill informed to say nobody was in prison because of disclosure failings. the body that investigates possible miscarriages of justice that investigates possible miscarriages ofjustice has said her remarks were at odds with their long experience of dealing with wrongful convictions.

now the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, has ordered an urgent review of all rape andual assault cases, and conceded it's likely a number will be dropped. one of the major problems is the amount of digital evidence on phones and social media. it's very apparent that in some cases mistakes have been made that simply shouldn't have been. it is important that when you look at that kind of case that the prosecutors and investigators look at social media traffic, look at text messages that have passed between the two individuals, because they can put what's happened in a very significant, different light. a national disclosure improvement plan has been published. it includes a review of disclosure training, developing a group of specialists in every police force, and all multimedia evidence to be provided to the defence digitally. yesterday, here, a people—trafficking case — not a rape or sexual assault trial — collapsed because prosecutors failed to disclose critical evidence to the defence. thejudge has demanded an urgent explanation in a case made even more shocking by t

the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, has said all current rape and serious sexual assault cases in england and wales are to be reviewed "as a matter of urgency" following the collapse of several recent trials because evidence was not disclosed to defence lawyers. today the attorney general told the bbc there was no evidence of "widespread malpractice or dishonesty" in the prosecution system. our legal affairs correspondent, clive coleman, reports. disclosure of evidence in some recent highly publicised rape cases has gone badly wrong. but how widespread is the problem? in december liam allan was acquitted of six counts of rape and six of sexual assault when it emerged evidence on a computer disk which police had examined showed messages from the alleged victim pestering him for casual sex. and the number of prosecutions in england and wales that collapsed because of a failure by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence has increased by 70% in the last two years. now the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, has ordered an urgent review of all rape and serious

some people may say, in fact, it was put to alison saunders recently, are people in prison who shouldnd they are there because of disclosure failures? she said that was not the case. the case at woodgreen yesterday proves it was the case. this woman was in prison on remand, not convicted, who should not have been there. i think there will be pressure now to look at past cases in addition to cases going forward and current cases. just quickly, what you say about the modern world, technology and mobile phones, that is correct. but what is the basic problem? a lack of staff, people not knowing how this works, how has this arisen? it used to be the case that the evidence collected would be paper, you would have a warehouse of paper in big cases. now much of the evidence is digital. that has to be properly scrutinised. you need the right training for police officers, disclosure officers, you need the right softwa re officers, you need the right software in order to do it effectively and come pensively. those are too matter of the big issues. the other big issue is very little. -- issues. t

there is very little in what i read yesterday from alison saunders that addresses how all of this iso be funded. the truth is that if you wa nt funded. the truth is that if you want a funded. the truth is that if you wanta criminal funded. the truth is that if you want a criminal justice funded. the truth is that if you want a criminaljustice system that functions well and properly, this particular point in the 20th century, where we are living our lives more online and on mobile devices, that is going to need serious investment. that is what all the lawyers i speak to within the criminal justice system the lawyers i speak to within the criminaljustice system are telling me, and there is very little i have seen so me, and there is very little i have seen so far as to quite how this is going to be funded. yes, jeremy wright is correct to say that police need to go back to basics and do basic things correctly, but they also need the right software, the right training and the amount of time to do what is a very difficult and challenging exercise. thank you very much. three teenage boys

also in the times, the story about alison saunders, head of the crown prosecution service, talking aboutay silent, they risk the thought that they consented to six. i thought she would be on the sign —— the side of the victims. somebody said it is quite a normal response to being in a very terrifying, violent situation like rape to go quiet and not scream. iam like rape to go quiet and not scream. i am surprised. the times says she is seeking to regain the initiative after a series of collapsed rape trials, which we have seen. collapsed rape trials, which we have seen. but it seems to be at the victims‘ expense. seen. but it seems to be at the victims' expense. and it doesn't necessarily happen between strangers ina darkened necessarily happen between strangers in a darkened alleyway. it can happen between a married couple. would you scream if you were in a coercive relationship? very good point. has she made a mistake with this intervention? i don't know, i would like to read the rest of the story tomorrow, but i am surprised by it, yeah. another royal wedding coming up. are you excited

alison saunders was talking about that, she said that is absolutely not the case and rejected that entirelyn, it wouldn't be a paper review without brexit, would it? we like brexit. i am excited by it. are you? yeah. 0k. ido am excited by it. are you? yeah. 0k. i do politics for a living. let's start with the daily telegraph, it is on three front pages. uk in talks over longer transition for brexit. .. the transition... david davis has been setting out what he thinks transition should look like from a uk point of view. this is what happens, we actually leave officially the european union on 29th march next year, and then we go into a transition period where we don't leave at all. we then have two years, we we re don't leave at all. we then have two years, we were told, or around two years, we were told, or around two years, to actually prepare for leaving. even during transition, we have ad hoc membership of the eu, accepting the rules, freedom of movement, members of the single market, members of the customs union, under the jurisdiction of the european court of justice, union, under the j

as we had in the report, alison saunders is now saying that if fresh evidence emerged, they would lookt is a long time since john worboys was roaming around london committing his offences. at the same time, we now have this legal challenge from two of his victims, and they want a review of whether the process under which he was deemed fit for release was lawful. but they are in the initial stages of this. and of course, the reasoning behind the decision to release him is not made public, as is the norm with parole board decisions. the parole board have said the decision was made by a very experienced team. they considered a wealth of evidence. but now this very controversial case moves to the courts. june, thank you. scientists say they've taken a step towards one of the biggest goals in medicine — a single blood test for all types of cancer. a team in america has trialled a method that detects eight common forms of the disease without the need for invasive biopsies or operations. their vision is an annual test designed to catch cancer early and save lives. here's our medical correspon

the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, has said all current rape and serious sexual assaultof several recent trials because evidence was not disclosed to defence lawyers.

alison saunders is the director of public prosecutions — i spoke to her earlier today and started byears case had collapsed. it wasn't a disclosure as in late disclosure of material but it was about looking at the case again, and reviewing it. as we have a constant duty to actually review cases and make sure they still satisfy the code for crown prosecutors. but there was some late material that came through and when we looked at everything again, decided that it was not sufficient evidence to prosecute. what should have happened in that case, of course, was that it all should have happened much earlier. and i quite understand and i can imagine how distressing it must be for everybody involved, all of the parties. two years of waiting. absolutely. and that shouldn't have happened. and that's why we are looking at, how we make sure that disclosure, which hasn't been going right across the whole system, how that really should happen much earlier in the proceedings. in terms of what happened in the mears case, when you said that information arose at a certain point later on, was that du

alison saunders is having a high—level meeting today, the director of public prosecutions for englande obligation is to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry. that doesn't mean going into every single avenue of your life. they would look to see if there was contact, text messages, which they did and which we looked at and we served. but they did not know what else was on the phone. did they even look at it? the download, i think, phone. did they even look at it? the download, ithink, was phone. did they even look at it? the download, i think, was not complete. certainly, the prosecutors had no idea there were photographs. forgive me for interrupting but in a way, that seems a glaring omission right from the start. they didn't even think, "we must look at photographs or social media". we don't look into every single aspect of everybody's life, there has to be a proportional response. but even a glancing blow, even notice that it wasn't there, why wasn't it? this is where there isa why wasn't it? this is where there is a complete systemic issue. what should have happened is that it sho

alison saunders, the director of public prosecutions speaking to the bbc last week said she doesn't thinkoesn't think that has resulted in anyone being sent to prison. this move today shows that the assumption someone move today shows that the assumption someone has been wrongfully imprisoned before. we have seen cases where someone imprisoned before. we have seen cases where someone has. is she wrong? we are talking about a review of cases under way. it's important that that happens. it is worth noting that in every case, the prosecution have an ongoing responsibility to review it. they have to keep track of any new evidence coming to light and whether prosecution is right in light of any new evidence. that should be done in any case. we are expecting prosecutors to do theirjob right in every single case. they need to do that particularly in cases where disclosure is going to be a very substantial factor and as i've said, if you look at rape cases in particular, looking for example at social media and text messages that passed between the two people involved, that can be highly releva nt

high—level meeting will be chaired by the director of public prosecutions in england and wales, alison saundersrape cases which collapsed after material emerged which undermined the prosecution. patient safety in accident and emergency units in wales is being compromised to an "unacceptable degree" according to hospital consultants. a group of a6 doctors is warning of the risks in a letter sent to the first minister. monthly performance figures will be published later this morning. nhs wales say it's been a very challenging winter, we have heard warnings of emergency units in other parts of the uk being a braking points and this time it is the turn of doctors in wales to speak out. a group of consultants to britain to the welsh first minister believed the situation here is the worst it's ever been. this is usually concerning, staff members coming to work, the glue that holds the nhs together, coming in doing their shifts but going home in tears and we have got patients in the department when we don't have space to see them and we are coming back the next day and some of the patients are still h