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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Jamie Grierson

Rap music used as evidence in scores of trials in England and Wales, study finds

Rapper in silhouette
A report by researchers at the University of Manchester said that rap was used as indirect or ‘bad character’ evidence. Photograph: Gennadiy Kravchenko/Getty Images

Rap and drill music was used as prosecution evidence for serious charges including alleged gang-related murders in cases covering 252 defendants in England and Wales over a three-year period, a study has found.

The researchers at the University of Manchester, who found 68 cases involving rap evidence covering the 252 charged individuals, said the issue “urgently needs scrutiny” as there was no meaningful regulation nor even monitoring of how the criminal justice system used rap as criminal evidence.

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