Indecent assault charges against shamed US film mogul Harvey Weinstein are DROPPED as CPS rules 'no realistic prospect of conviction'

The Crown Prosecution Service has dropped indecent assault charges against US film mogul Harvey Weinstein as it ruled there is 'no realistic prospect of conviction'.

The producer, 72, was charged in June 2022 with two counts of indecent assault against a woman in London in August 1996.

Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: 'Following a review of the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to discontinue criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein.'

It comes after the New York Court of Appeals threw out his 2020 rape conviction on April 25 after ruling he did not receive a fair trial- effectively erasing his 23-year prison sentence and ordering a retrial.

But he remains in prison as he was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of Italian actress and model Evgeniya Chernyshova in Los Angeles and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 

In June 2022, Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime Division, confirmed that Scotland Yard had been authorised to charge the ex-film producer.

The charges related to one female complainant in August 1996 in London, and the decision was reached after the CPS reviewed evidence gathered by the Met.

A statement from Scotland Yard at the time of the arrest said it had been alleged two offences were committed between July 31 and August 31 1996.

The alleged victim, a woman, is now aged in her 50s.

But the CPS has now decided to discontinue criminal proceedings against Weinstein.

Mr Ferguson said: '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.

'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.'

Weinstein is currently awaiting a retrial on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan. 

Prosecutors told court he could face a new indictment as it is 'actively investigating' more claims of sexual assault against Weinstein.

'Some people who were not ready to speak out in 2020 now appear to do so in 2024,' Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg previously said. 

'We'll speak to advisors as to what falls within the statute of limitations and we will do everything in our power to make sure every survivor's identity is protected.'

Weinstein is serving his prison sentence in the US following a rape and sexual misconduct conviction in Los Angeles related to an incident in 2013 where he appeared uninvited in a woman's hotel room during a Los Angeles film festival.

He was sentenced to 16 years' prison in February 2023.

He is currently in custody in New York's Rikers Island jail complex while awaiting a retrial in Manhattan after a 2020 conviction for rape was overturned earlier this year in a majority decision from the Court of Appeal in New York.

The decision cited 'the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes' which was 'an abuse of judicial discretion'.

In July, Weinstein was treated in hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs, and Covid-19.

In 2020, the producer of hit movies including Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, Gangs Of New York and Shakespeare In Love was stripped of his honorary CBE awarded for his contribution to the British film industry.