Rap music serves as evidence in many UK trials, study finds

A new study by researchers at the University of Manchester has revealed a surprising trend in England and Wales: rap and workout music are being used as prosecution evidence in serious criminal cases. The analysis identified 68 cases over three years in which lyrics of these genres were introduced as evidence against 252 defendants, including those facing gang-related homicide charges.

According to a statement from University of Manchester, rap lyrics and videos are regularly used as prosecution evidence in criminal youth violence cases in England and Wales. The material selected by the State usually has violent themes, often from the popular ‘drill’ rap musical genre, and is composed by one or more of the defendants or one of their friends. This use is deeply controversial due to concerns that rap is an unreliable form of evidence and that its use is unfairly prejudicial.

Despite growing criticism, there is very little regulation or monitoring of the way rap is being used as criminal evidence, and it continues to be used to create “gang-related” prosecutions under highly controversial secondary liability laws. In turn, “gang” labels, which have even been discredited as inaccurate and racist by some law enforcement, are “evidenced” by rap music, often to construct large “Joint Enterprise” trials in which more than one person is prosecuted for a single crime. crime.

Eithne Quinn, Erica Kane and Will Pritchard say their research has revealed very worrying processes of ‘increasing injustice’ that run the risk of innocent people being convicted of the most serious crimes.

“Our findings are deeply concerning and support the view that the collection of rap evidence in criminal cases encourages police and prosecutors to further increase the number of people charged as secondary charges under already egregious secondary liability laws,” said teacher Eithne Quinn.