What to do if Google publishes your name as a witness in criminal trial
How we helped a court witness wrongly linked to revenge porn crimes remove his name from Google searches after Google implied he was involved in the crime itself.
When Google search results link innocent witnesses to crimes they didn’t commit
Why witnesses in criminal cases often become collateral damage online
How we used the right to be forgotten to remove misleading search results
Extending the protection: removing our client's name from Bing and Yahoo search results
Why search engines often link victims and witnesses to criminal content
What to do if your name is unfairly linked to a criminal case online
When Google search results link innocent witnesses to crimes they didn’t commit
When Michael Adeyemi (name changed) volunteered to be a witness in a criminal trial, he never imagined it would lead to years of online humiliation and reputational damage. His name, which had never appeared in any criminal charge or wrongdoing, became connected online to revenge porn, coercion, and sex crimes, terms that could destroy anyone’s credibility.
Michael was not the criminal. He wasn’t even a suspect. He was simply a key witness in a disturbing case involving a man named Craig Wilkinson (also renamed), who had manipulated and blackmailed a woman into sexual activity and later distributed explicit videos of her to her family.
Michael’s only connection to the case was that he had unknowingly been drawn into the scenario and later bravely gave evidence in court to support the prosecution. Despite this, when anyone Googled Michael’s name, they found article after article with headlines such as “Revenge porn pervert jailed after blackmailing woman into sex”, and “Man sent explicit video to victim’s family at Christmas”. His photo appeared in some of the articles too, creating a disastrous illusion that he was the offender. These misleading search results had a serious impact.
Why witnesses in criminal cases often become collateral damage online
The principle of open justice in the UK allows for journalists to freely report on court proceedings. This includes the publication of names and images of those who attend court, even witnesses. While this promotes transparency and accountability, it has unintended consequences in the digital age.
News articles naming innocent parties remain online for years, sometimes decades. As search engines use algorithms that prioritise popular, authoritative, or keyword-rich content, anyone named in such articles, no matter how briefly or innocently, is likely to be permanently linked to that case in search results.
Michael became an unwilling public figure. Every time someone searched for his name, they saw terms like “jailed”, “revenge porn”, “coercion”, and “sex crimes” nearby.
This caused distress for him, embarrassment for his wife, and confusion for his daughter, who first came across the articles while researching her father online. He was repeatedly forced to explain his involvement to friends, employers, and clients. His life and career stalled under the weight of a narrative that simply wasn’t true.
How we used the right to be forgotten to remove misleading search results
Michael came to us unsure of his rights or whether anything could be done. We explained that he had a legal right under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 to request the removal of search results that were misleading, irrelevant, or excessive, especially if the content was harming him and no longer served a public interest.
This legal route is known as the Right to be Forgotten. Although it does not erase articles from the internet, it can delist them from search results linked to a person’s name, meaning they won’t appear when someone Googles you. We submitted a carefully prepared application to Google explaining the harm these articles were causing.
First and foremost, we pointed out how the way the content was structured made it look as though Michael had been the one accused of the crimes. His name and photo appeared in articles that discussed serious offences, and this created a misleading and damaging impression that he had something to do with them.
We also stressed the very real personal and professional impact this had caused. Michael had suffered emotionally, struggled in his career, and faced uncomfortable conversations with family members, all because of the wrongful association.
Another key point was the age of the articles. They were several years old and no longer reflected any current relevance, especially since Michael’s role had been purely as a witness.
Finally, we explained that there was no legitimate public interest in having his name remain connected to the case online. He wasn’t on trial, he wasn’t accused, and the continued visibility of these search results served no broader societal purpose, only harm to an innocent man.
Google denied the right to be forgotten request initially, stating that the URLs were active. We conducted fresh search audits, supplied screenshots and search result data, and clarified that the articles were indeed appearing when his name was entered. Eventually, after further clarification and resubmission, Google agreed to delist the remaining URLs.
Extending the protection: removing our client's name from Bing and Yahoo search results
Once the articles were removed from Google, Michael instructed us to apply the same legal process to Bing and Yahoo. Each platform presented similar delays and required multiple rounds of communication and evidence submission.
We persisted and ultimately secured full delisting of his name across all major search engines. Now, when someone searches Michael Adeyemi’s name, they no longer find themselves reading about crimes he didn’t commit. His online identity has been restored to reflect the reality an innocent witness who did the right thing under difficult circumstances.
Why search engines often link victims and witnesses to criminal content
Search engines don’t understand context in the same way humans do. They index content based on algorithms that scan titles, headings, metadata, and body text. If an article includes a witness’s name in the same space as shocking or criminal content, Google and other search engines may associate that person with those terms.
This means victims of crime, witnesses, or even bystanders can have their names permanently linked to crimes like assault, fraud, or revenge porn, even when the article makes it clear they were not involved in any criminal conduct.
It is one of the unfortunate consequences of open court reporting in the internet era. While transparency is important, it must be balanced with individual privacy, especially when the information causes unjust harm.
What to do if your name is unfairly linked to a criminal case online
If you’ve searched your name and found articles linking you to a criminal case you merely witnessed, or worse, if people have started to assume you were involved, you are not alone. This is, unfortunately, an increasingly common issue for witnesses in criminal trials.
Most people assume that once you've given evidence in court, you’ll be supported or protected in some way, but the reality is often very different. Once you’ve stepped down from the witness stand, you're usually left to fend for yourself. Courts, the police, and even the Crown Prosecution Service rarely offer guidance on what to do if your name starts appearing in damaging online content.
You are left with uninvited, and sometimes harmful, publicity that you never signed up for and no one tells you how to manage it. At Cohen Davis, we understand the emotional and reputational strain that comes from being misrepresented online.
We have years of experience helping people just like you remove misleading search results and restore their good name. Whether through the Right to be Forgotten, targeted GDPR notices, or formal legal proceedings if needed, we take the weight off your shoulders and guide you through every step of reclaiming your online identity.
At Cohen Davis, we specialise in removing harmful and misleading content from the internet and fight to restore your reputation and protect your online identity.
If you're a witness in a criminal case and your name now appears alongside headlines like “man jailed for sexual offences”, or “witness in blackmail case”, reach out to us.
