Source: All England Reporter
Publisher Citation: [2008] All ER (D) 77 (Jan)
Court: Court of Appeal, Criminal Division
Judge:

Hallett LJ, Stanley Burton and Wyn Williams JJ
Representation Richard Burrington (assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for the defendant.
  Dominic Bush (instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service) for the Crown.
Judgment Dates: 18 January 2008

Catchwords

Criminal law - Trial - Verdict - Inconsistent verdicts - Importing a Class A drug - Prosecution presenting case on basis that both defendant and co-defendant aware carrying heroin in car - Defendant being convicted - Co-defendant being acquitted - Whether conviction unsafe.

The Case

The defendant's appeal against a conviction of knowingly importing a Class A drug, where his co-defendant had been acquitted of the same offence, would be allowed on the ground that the verdicts were inconsistent. In the instant case, the real distinction between the defendant and his co-defendant was not enough to convict one and acquit the other. Moreover, it would be wrong to ignore the real concerns of a very experienced judge who, having heard the evidence, had expected the case of the defendant and his co-defendant to stand and fall together. For those reasons, and given the way in which the case had been presented by the prosecution, there was a lurking doubt about the safety of the conviction. It followed that the conviction was unsafe and it would be quashed.

If you are a LexisLibrary subscriber you can read more about this case here.

Lexis®Library

  • Cases related to this particular case that are related to, or discuss this caseView related cases
  • Commentary discussing this particular case from LexisLibrary's comprehensive range of titles including Butterworths, Halsbury's and TolleyView related commentary
  • The All England Law Reports comprises judgments with headnotes and catchwords indicating the area of law and key issues of the case prepared by legally qualified editorsFind AllER Reports