Rape survivor 'disgusted' over no free trial transcripts

Juliana Terlizzi says it is "utterly shameful that the government expects to keep victims in the dark for yet another year"

A rape survivor in London says she is "disgusted and disappointed" after the House of Lords rejected allowing crime victims to request a free transcript of summing up and sentencing remarks.

Some crime victims and relatives told BBC London they were charged thousands of pounds to access trial transcripts.

On Tuesday the amendment to the Victims Bill was voted against by 211 to 82.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said a pilot for sexual offence victims was already due to begin this spring.

It comes after 32 MPs including from the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats, wrote to the justice secretary in support of the proposed changes.

Transcripts of court hearings are not routinely available to victims of crime, the MoJ said. Transcription companies are employed to listen to audio files of court hearings to transcribe them, with costs depending on the transcript size and how quickly it is required.

BBC Newsnight recently found transcription costs at the six government-contracted firms varied from 80p per 72 words, to £1.71, for 12 working days of transcription. One rape survivor said she was quoted £7,500 for the transcript of her trial.

Juliana Terlizzi, from south-west London, waived her right to anonymity after she was drugged and raped by her then-boyfriend in 2020.

'Insult to victims'

When she requested transcripts following the trial, Ms Terlizzi was told provisions were only made in exceptional circumstances, such as in murder and manslaughter cases, but those circumstances were "not met in your application".

She was eventually quoted the fee of thousands of pounds.

Since then, Ms Terlizzi has joined the Open Justice campaign calling on the government to allow free access to entire court transcripts.

Although the amendment had only partially addressed campaigners' concerns, Ms Terlizzi supported it.

Following the House of Lords vote, the bill will go back to the Commons for further debate. "The actions of Conservative peers today are an insult to victims," Ms Terlizzi said.

Ms Terlizzi's former boyfriend was jailed after he was convicted of raping her

"The House of Lords had the chance to do the right thing for victims and survivors and back this amendment to reduce transcript costs, and I am absolutely disgusted and disappointed that they have failed to do so.

"Kind words do not go far enough for people like me who are sick and tired of empty promises from a government which, when push comes to shove, continually refuses our calls for action on court transcript costs."

She continued: "It is utterly shameful that the government expects to keep victims in the dark for yet another year, despite having acknowledged that it is a basic right for all victims to have access to this information.

"We will keep fighting until justice is affordable to all."

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Another woman, from Gloucestershire, who requested court transcripts for her daughter and asked not to be named to protect her right to anonymity, was initially charged more than £20,000, but successfully got this reduced to £2,000 after narrowing down the material she wanted.

She also came to London for the debate and said: "I'm gutted for everyone I know that really needs their transcript to move on with their life, to know what was said about them when they weren't there and to kind of get some closure.

"I'm lucky I've got [the transcript] - all these other people. My heart goes out to them actually all over the country who are really struggling."

She added: "We're going to carry on the fight. We're not giving up. This is such an important thing for victims to have, and other countries managed to do it so why can't we?"

'Impossible choice'

Ms Terlizzi's local MP, Liberal Democrat Sarah Onley, has spoken in support of the campaign previously in the Commons.

Sophie Francis-Cansfield, head of external affairs at charity Women's Aid, said victims had "long been lobbying the government" on the issue, stressing "access to justice should not cost survivors thousands of pounds".

"Survivors and victims' families currently face an impossible choice - either attend court and be sat next to the defendant and their family, or be actively discouraged from attending and therefore unable to establish what happened during trial", she said.

"These options are not conducive to open justice and do not enable recovery from what is without a doubt a traumatic event."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told MPs the government is "actively looking" at options to reduce the costs victims face to access transcripts

An MoJ spokesperson said: "It is vital victims get the support and information they need to rebuild their lives and move on.

"That is why we've announced a new pilot scheme that will enable victims of serious sexual offences to request a copy of the judge's sentencing remarks free of charge", they said.

However, this pilot has certain restrictions, including that the defendant must have been found guilty at trial.

The spokesperson added the pilot built on "a provision already in place for families of homicide victims in cases of murder or manslaughter".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told MPs in the House of Common last week that the government was "actively looking" at options to reduce the costs victims face when trying to access court transcripts.

If you've been affected by issues raised in this story, there is information and support available on BBC Action Line.

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