Source: All England Reporter
Publisher Citation: [2008] All ER (D) 168 (May)
Court: Court of Appeal, Criminal Division
Judge:

Keene LJ, Saunders J and the Recorder of Swansea
Representation Philip Astbury (assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for the defendant.
  Ian Harris (instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service) for the Crown.
Judgment Dates: 14 May 2008

Catchwords

Criminal law - Trial - Verdicts - Alternative offences - Attempted murder - Causing grievous bodily harm with intent - Inflicting grievous bodily harm - Offences being charged as alternative offences - Judge taking verdict on lesser alternative count before jury reaching verdict on more serious charge - Whether conviction unsafe.

The Case

The defendant's appeal against conviction would be allowed in part. On settled law, where there were two or more charges arising from the same facts the judge should not take a verdict on the less serious count until finality had been reached in relation to the more serious count. In the instant case, no finality had been reached in relation to a charge of attempted murder when a verdict on a lesser alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent had been reached. It followed that the conviction of the lesser count was unsafe.

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