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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor

Labour MP who was groomed asks colleagues to back judge-only trials

Natalie Fleet in her office at a desk facing the camera
Natalie Fleet said drug dealers chose lengthy jury trials so they could ‘game the system’, delay imprisonment and continue selling drugs. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

A Labour MP who became pregnant after being groomed and raped as a teenager has called on colleagues to back plans for judge-only trials or “allow the power balance to remain in favour of criminals as opposed to the victims”.

Natalie Fleet, the MP for Bolsover, said she would not encourage survivors to seek justice through the courts because “the hell of being raped is made worse by the hell of going through delays in the system”.

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