CPS prosecutor cites fictitious precedent after AI search

Senior crown prosecutor Ravinder Dhillon cited an imaginary legal precedent while defending the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to prosecute a boy accused of raping his younger sister. The fictional reference is understood to have come from an AI summary generated during an internet search. Senior high court judges described her explanation as “unsatisfactory”, but said the citation did not affect the outcome of the boy’s challenge to the prosecution.

Dhillon later acknowledged the error and said she had intended to refer to a different, genuine decision. The boy’s lawyers had challenged whether prosecutors properly considered representations from social workers, youth workers and a forensic psychologist. The prosecution remained scheduled to proceed in the youth courts.

The CPS said its policy prohibits AI from making legal decisions and requires human accuracy checks. It said the error was corrected, an internal review checked whether other cases were affected, and staff were reminded to cite case law from trusted legal sources.

The incident brings a UK tracker maintained by barrister Matthew Lee to 101 entries covering confirmed, suspected and disputed AI-related errors and related false citations. Lee warned that unpublished lower court decisions could conceal further incidents, while AI use creates confidentiality risks and additional verification work for lawyers.