The Case

Criminal law Joint enterprise. Court of Appeal, Criminal Division: Appeals against conviction for murder and manslaughter were dismissed in a case where the evidence did not enable it to be said with any precision exactly which blow during two assaults had caused the deceased's death. The judge had correctly summed up the issue of causation to the jury and the jury had been entitled to find that causation was made out from the evidence which was available. There had been no break in the chain of causation although there had been an interval between the assaults. Further, where the actions of a third appellant, convicted of murder, had been described as 'chilling and stark' a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years was not manifestly excessive.