Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah recently contributed to a , as part of Channel 4’s ‘Guilty Bystander’ series which shines a light on joint enterprise prosecutions. The episode documents the case of two young men convicted of wounding with intent, despite denying being at the scene of the offence. Dr Owusu-Bempah explains how prosecutors use music videos to suggest gang association, which then implicates defendants in group offending.
The documentary coincides with the publication of her latest article on the topic, ‘’, offering a critical exploration of the admissibility and use of rap as evidence in criminal trials. The article is published in a special issue of on ‘Policing and Prosecuting Rap’ which explores the criminalisation of rap music, calling for change to this racist practice.