{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0835","record_version":1,"title":"CPS prosecutor cites AI-hallucinated case law in High Court child rape prosecution hearing","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":53.9,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":15.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":0.0,"completeness":5.12,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-04","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"confirmed","reason":"2 independent outlets","original_document":null,"reports_total":2,"reports_independent":2,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":true,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-04","history":[{"date":"2026-11-04","from_level":null,"to_level":"confirmed","reason":"2 independent outlets"}]},"sources_hash":"32d5f8327890a4073b732afbf3d1d1307166578f4deb52ec99d97998ea8d3f73"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"production","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":"embedded","intended_use":"legal research","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-11-03","incident_class":"hallucination","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A senior CPS prosecutor, Ravinder Dhillon, was researching a child rape case and used an AI response generated during an internet search. In written submissions to a High Court hearing on whether a child should be prosecuted for the rape of his younger sister, she cited a detailed reference to a case she called CPS – R v J [2024] EWCA Crim 3529, which turned out not to exist. She said her citation had been an error and that she had meant a House of Lords decision from 14 years earlier; two High Court judges called the explanation 'unsatisfactory' but accepted the mistake had not altered the outcome, and the prosecution was allowed to continue. The CPS said it identified the error from legal research using the internet, remedied it, carried out an internal review and shared learnings that caselaw must be cited from trusted legal sources.","tags":["hallucinated-citation","legal-research","chatbot","public-sector","court-proceedings"],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":"deployer","adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":"As soon as this error was identified, it was remedied and an internal review was carried out to establish how this had occurred and to check that no other cases have been affected. Following the rapid review we shared learnings, including that caselaw must be cited from trusted legal sources.","precursor_events":"In July, the CPS admitted putting hallucinated cases before the High Court in an extradition appeal."},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"moderate","severity_because":"Moderate: a court proceeding was touched and the judges called the explanation 'unsatisfactory', but the mistake was accepted not to have altered the outcome of the case.","harm_class":["operational"],"affected_description":"High Court proceedings concerning whether a child should be prosecuted for the rape of his younger sister","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16261697/Senior-CPS-prosecutor-accidentally-references-non-existent-case-using-AI-child-rape-High-Court-hearing.html?ico=livefeed","publisher":"Daily Mail","date":"2026-11-03","type":"press","title":"CPS prosecutor references non-existent case after using AI","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report","independence":"independent"},{"url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/nov/03/a-serious-failure-cps-prosecutor-cites-imaginary-case-to-high-court-after-ai-search","publisher":"The Guardian","date":"2026-11-03","type":"press","title":"‘A serious failure’: CPS prosecutor cites imaginary case to high court after AI search","archived_url":null,"attachment":"fingerprint","independence":"independent"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.developer":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"C","system.integration_type":"C","system.intended_use":"C","event.date_disclosed":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","event.summary":"C","event.tags":"C","event.responsible_party":"C","event.remediation":"C","event.precursor_events":"C","event.incident_class":"C","impact.severity":"C","impact.harm_class":"C","impact.affected_description":"C","impact.severity_because":"C","context.industry":"C","context.country":"C","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The solicitor used an AI response generated during an Internet search, it is understood."}],"system.deployment_context":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The CPS has a strict artificial intelligence policy which limits its use so that it is not used to make legal decisions and there must be human checks for accuracy."}],"system.integration_type":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The solicitor used an AI response generated during an Internet search, it is understood."}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Following the challenge, we identified an error had occurred from conducting legal research using the internet."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A senior CPS prosecutor accidentally cited a fictitious legal precedent after using an AI-generated answer while researching a child rape case."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Ms Dhillon was arguing in favour of the prosecution continuing and included in her written submissions a detailed reference to a case she called CPS – R v J [2024] EWCA Crim 3529. This turned out not to exist."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The solicitor said her citation had been an error and that she had been referring to a decision by the House of Lords 14 years earlier."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Judges called this explanation 'unsatisfactory' but accepted her mistake had not altered the outcome of the case - which was for the prosecution to be allowed to continue."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Following the challenge, we identified an error had occurred from conducting legal research using the internet."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"As soon as this error was identified, it was remedied and an internal review was carried out to establish how this had occurred and to check that no other cases have been affected."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Following the rapid review we shared learnings, including that caselaw must be cited from trusted legal sources."}],"event.tags":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A senior CPS prosecutor accidentally cited a fictitious legal precedent after using an AI-generated answer while researching a child rape case."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"In July, the CPS admitted putting hallucinated cases before the High Court in an extradition appeal."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"There have been dozens of other instances of hallucinations coming before judges, mainly by people representing themselves in employment tribunal cases."}],"event.responsible_party":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The CPS has a strict artificial intelligence policy which limits its use so that it is not used to make legal decisions and there must be human checks for accuracy."}],"event.remediation":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"As soon as this error was identified, it was remedied and an internal review was carried out to establish how this had occurred and to check that no other cases have been affected."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Following the rapid review we shared learnings, including that caselaw must be cited from trusted legal sources."}],"event.precursor_events":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In July, the CPS admitted putting hallucinated cases before the High Court in an extradition appeal."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"There have been dozens of other instances of hallucinations coming before judges, mainly by people representing themselves in employment tribunal cases."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A senior CPS prosecutor accidentally cited a fictitious legal precedent after using an AI-generated answer while researching a child rape case."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Ms Dhillon was arguing in favour of the prosecution continuing and included in her written submissions a detailed reference to a case she called CPS – R v J [2024] EWCA Crim 3529. This turned out not to exist."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Judges called this explanation 'unsatisfactory' but accepted her mistake had not altered the outcome of the case - which was for the prosecution to be allowed to continue."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"However, legal experts described the error as 'serious'."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Judges called this explanation 'unsatisfactory' but accepted her mistake had not altered the outcome of the case - which was for the prosecution to be allowed to continue."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Ravinder Dhillon cited the entirely made-up case during a High Court hearing to decide whether a child should be prosecuted for the rape of his younger sister."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Judges called this explanation 'unsatisfactory' but accepted her mistake had not altered the outcome of the case - which was for the prosecution to be allowed to continue."}],"context.industry":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A senior CPS prosecutor accidentally cited a fictitious legal precedent after using an AI-generated answer while researching a child rape case."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Ravinder Dhillon cited the entirely made-up case during a High Court hearing to decide whether a child should be prosecuted for the rape of his younger sister."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The document does not name the AI system, model, developer or version; it says only that the solicitor used 'an AI response generated during an Internet search'. No date is given for the hearing or for when the fabricated citation was first noticed, so date_occurred and date_detected are null; date_disclosed is the article's publication date. The article does not state who first spotted the non-existent case, so detection_method is unknown. No monetary loss, record count or duration is stated. The AI was used as a research aid by a human who then filed the citation herself, so agent_involved is false and failure_class is null. Country is inferred as GB from the CPS and High Court context. The article mentions earlier CPS hallucinated-case incidents (July extradition appeal, dozens of tribunal cases) but gives no dates or details, so they are recorded only as precursor context rather than separate incidents. Severity moderate is a judgement: a court proceeding was touched but the outcome was unaffected. Extractor proposed values without quotes; dropped: ['context.denominator_available', 'context.regulatory', 'event.adversarial_actor', 'event.agent_involved', 'event.date_disclosed', 'event.detection_method', 'event.root_cause', 'event.trigger', 'system.autonomy_level', 'system.lifecycle_stage']. Single secondary source; corroborate before upgrading any field to B. The document does not name the AI model, developer, search product or harness; it only says the reference came from an AI response generated during an internet search and that the search delivered an AI summary containing the fictional case details. No date is given for when the fabricated citation was produced or first noticed; the decision to proceed was taken in April and the error admitted in October, but the year is not stated, so date_occurred and date_detected are null. date_disclosed is taken from the collector-supplied publication date (2026-11-03), not from the article text. No loss figure, record count or duration is stated. agent_involved is false: the AI summary was a search output relied on by a human prosecutor, not an autonomous agent executing tools or multi-step tasks, so failure_class is null. root_cause is left unknown because the article does not state what failed in the search/AI pipeline. responsible_party is coded deployer on the basis that the CPS is the organisation whose staff used the tool and whose policy governs its use; the AI provider is unnamed. severity is moderate as a judgement call: a third party's court proceeding was touched but the High Court said the outcome was unaffected and no loss is quantified. The article also mentions a February CPS extradition case with nonexistent authorities likely caused by AI; it is recorded only as a precursor because the document gives no further detail (no date beyond 'February', no model, no outcome). The 101-entry UK tracker figure is a count of tracked incidents, not of this incident's impact, and is not used as a quantity field. Extractor proposed values without quotes; dropped: ['context.denominator_available', 'context.regulatory', 'event.adversarial_actor', 'event.agent_involved', 'event.date_disclosed', 'event.detection_method', 'event.root_cause', 'event.trigger', 'system.autonomy_level', 'system.developer']. Single secondary source; corroborate before upgrading any field to B. [2026-11-04: evidence level set: Confirmed (2 independent outlets)]"},"context":{"industry":"Public administration","org_size_band":null,"country":"GB","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null}}