Why pre-charge anonymity is only fair; Ros Burnett
Ros Burnett, an academic linked to the Oxford University Criminology Department has written an article for the Justice Gap on the issue of anonymity until charge for those accused of sexual offences.
Leaks to the press about allegations of sexual offences have seriously damaged the reputations, careers and safety of many famous people. For every celebrity reported in the national media there will be many more ordinary citizens who will have had their lives trashed because of the absence of anonymity pre-charge. Many are never charged but the damage is very difficult to undo.
Ros Burnett makes a strong case for protecting their anonymity in this article in the Justice Gap.
“Dr Ros Burnett is a Senior Research Associate, formerly Reader in Criminology, at the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, which she joined in 1990 after gaining her doctorate at Oxford (in Social Psychology). Before then she was a Probation Officer.”
Read more about Ros Burnett on Oxford University’s website here.
