| Source: | All England Reporter |
| Publisher Citation: | [2007] All ER (D) 234 (Jan) |
| Neutral Citation: | [2007] EWCA Crim 2 |
| Court: | Court of Appeal, Criminal Division |
| Judge: | Laws LJ, Penry-Davey J and the Recorder of Chester |
| Representation | John Ryder QC (instructed by Attridges) for the first defendant. |
| David Spens QC (instructed by Imran Khan) for the second defendant. | |
| Peter Rowlands (instructed by Emery Halil & Brown) for the third defendant. | |
| David Burgess (instructed by R Fellowes & Son) for the fourth defendant. | |
| Alan Suckling QC and Catherine Purnell (instructed by Genga & Co) for the fifth defendant. | |
| Caroline Gassman (instructed by Bagshaws) for the sixth defendant. | |
| Jonathan Akinsanya and Polly Darling (instructed by Burnley Jones Bate & Co) for the seventh defendant. | |
| John Anders (instructed by Macauley Smith & Co) for the eighth defendant. | |
| Kim Hollis QC (instructed by Matwala Vyas) for the ninth defendant. | |
| Raana Sheikh and Michaela Bonsu (instructed by Atanda) for the tenth defendant. | |
| Ivan Lawrence QC and David Martin (instructed by Egole) for the eleventh defendant. | |
| David Sonn, solicitor advocate, of Sonn Macmillan for the twelfth defendant. | |
| Andrew Mitchell QC, Allison Hunter QC and Caroline Haughey (instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service) for the Crown. | |
| Judgment Dates: | 26 January 2007 |
Catchwords
Criminal law - Trial - Judge - Conspiracy to import Class A drugs - Judge intervening in counsel's closing speech - Effect of intervention - Judge suggesting that defence inviting jury to speculate - Whether defendant's conviction unsafe.
The Case
In the instant case, where the defendant and others were charged on an indictment with, inter alia, conspiracy to import Class A drugs, the judge's intervention during defence counsel's closing speech to the effect that counsel was inviting the jury to speculate as to the evidence, whereas there was a proper foundation in the evidence for defence counsel's suggestion, rendered her conviction unsafe.
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