Geoffrey Robertson KC, the founding head of Doughty Street Chambers and one-time boss of Keir Starmer, said there was no public interest in charging Kerr, especially “at this time when the criminal justice system is in chaos”.
A CPS spokesperson said: “The Crown Prosecution Service’s function is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a jury to consider.
Kerr’s lawyer, Grace Forbes, claimed the CPS had violated its own guidance, adding that a “loophole” in the victims’ right of review scheme was used to justify prosecution proceedings a year after the alleged offence.
A leading human rights lawyer has called for an investigation into the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge the footballer Sam Kerr, calling it an “attack on free speech”.
After the verdict, it was revealed that Kerr’s legal team had attempted to get the case thrown out at a preliminary hearing in January, arguing there had been an abuse of process by crown prosecutors.
