Victim’s memory of abuse ‘implausible’

A man convicted of raping a young girl is attempting to clear his
name by claiming that a child’s “early memories” can prove
unreliable in court.

John Robert Hudson, 59, was jailed for 12 years in November 2000
after he was found guilty on four counts of rape and two of
indecent assault.

Last week, James Goss QC argued that Hudson’s convictions were
“unsafe” and should be quashed in the light of fresh expert
evidence relating to the nature of early childhood memory.

He told the Court of Appeal in London that Hudson was convicted on
the basis that the sexual abuse happened when the alleged victim
was aged between three and 12.

Goss argued that evidence produced by Martin Conway, a psychiatric
expert from Durham University, showed that the victim’s memories of
abuse were “implausible,” and that the language she had used to
describe the abuse was “derived or constructed”.

The hearing continues.