Prosecutors in the UK have discontinued two indecent assault charges against the disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein.
The Metropolitan police were given the green light two years ago by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to charge Weinstein with two charges of indecent assault against a woman, in her 50s at the time of the announcement of the charges, in London in 1996.
However, the CPS said on Thursday it was discontinuing the charges after a review of evidence found “there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction”.
The decision had been explained to all parties, it said in a statement.
“We would always encourage any potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report to police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met,” said Frank Ferguson, the head of the CPS’s special crime and counter-terrorism division.
The news was greeted with dismay by Lysette Anthony, a British actor who was one of dozens of women to have made allegations against Weinstein.
“It has cost so much to so many women who have come forward and we have had every reason to hope for the best,” said Anthony, who has said she told the Metropolitan police she was attacked by Weinstein in her London home in the late 1980s.
“At the end of the day there is still a considerable influence being played by, let’s call them very well paid legal tribes,” added the actor, who said she was no longer sure Weinstein would spend the rest of his days in prison.
More than ever, she told the Guardian, the prime minister and the British government needed to look at overhauling the CPS and laws in relation to sexual assault and rape.
“I know how much it has cost me coming forward, and other women, but what has happened to me and to others is just horrific,” said Anthony, who added that she continued to stay in touch with the police, praising the excellence of individual officers but expressing frustration with the system.
Weinstein is in custody in New York’s Rikers Island jail complex while awaiting a retrial in Manhattan after a 2020 conviction for rape was overturned in a majority decision from the court of appeal in New York.
The sex offender, who co-founded the California-based independent film distribution and production company Miramax, had a spectacular fall from grace in October 2017 when the New York Times published a story detailing decades of allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The actors Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd were among the women who came forward before he was sacked by the board of his company. Allegations by 13 other women were published in the New Yorker magazine.
After a trial in New York in 2020, he was sentenced in March of that year to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault. He was also sentenced in February last year to 16 years in prison for the 2013 rape of an actor in Los Angeles. He is appealing against that conviction.
The convictions were hailed as major victories in the #MeToo movement, which was galvanised by the mass of women who came forward with accusations against Weinstein.
Earlier this year New York’s top court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 convictions and found he should face a new trial.
Legal analysts have said he faces a difficult path to getting his conviction in California overturned. However, Weinstein’s lawyers have said they believe the New York decision would bolster efforts to appeal against his rape conviction in Los Angeles.
In Britain, police said the two charges against him in London were over alleged offences between 31 July and 31 August 1996.
Ferguson, whose division prosecutes the most complex and sensitive cases in England and Wales, said: “Following a review of the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to discontinue criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein.
“The CPS has a duty to keep all cases under continuous review and we have decided that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. We have explained our decision to all parties.”
A spokesperson for the Met said: “We have been informed by the Crown Prosecution Service that criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein in relation to two charges of indecent assault are being discontinued. The Met has updated all those whose allegations formed part of this investigation.”
Weinstein and his brother Bob established Miramax in 1979, with the company going on to become the force behind some of the biggest blockbusters of all time. In June 1993, it was bought by the Walt Disney Company in a deal that allowed the brothers to stay on in creative roles.