Matthew RAMAGE faced trial together with three other men, charged with Conspiring to Supply Class A drugs, as part of a wider County Lines operation. The prosecution attributed 12 mobile phone numbers to Matthew RAMAGE that they suggested had been used by him to communicate with his co-accused. The attribution of these phone numbers was based primarily upon an analysis of cell-site data, that police had obtained for the numbers.
Applying and extending the principles from the recent Court of Appeal case of R v Turner [2020] EWCA Crim 1241, Mr. Doswell successfully argued that the attribution evidence was inadmissible. In Turner, it was established that evidence that a particular location was consistent with the use of a cell mast, could not be provided by an analyst where a Radio Frequency Survey had not been conducted. Here, given consistent cell site usage was not evidence that an analyst could provide, it was not a reasonable inference the prosecution could ask the jury draw. The prejudicial effect of introducing the evidence outweighed its probative value. Following two days of legal argument, the attribution evidence was rightly excluded and the prosecution offered no evidence against Mr. Ramage.
The trial continues against the remaining defendants.