In an indecent assault trial which turned on the comparative credibility of the complainant and the defendant, the judge should have given a full good-character direction in respect of the defendant. His failure to do so, coupled with his direction that the jury should treat the unchallenged evidence of the defendant’s character witnesses with caution, simply because they knew him well, rendered the defendant’s conviction unsafe.
ADMISSIBILITY BAD CHARACTER CHILDREN’S HOMES CREDIBILITY CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DISCLOSURE GOOD CHARACTER HISTORICAL OFFENCES INDECENT ASSAULT JURY DIRECTIONS SEVERANCE
Where the admission of hearsay evidence of a person who had died was sought under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.116(2)(a), in the proviso in s.116(5), that if the circumstances (namely that person’s death) were caused “(a) by the person in support of whose case it is sought to give the statement…” [then the evidence would be inadmissible], “person” meant the defendant or somebody acting on his behalf, not the deceased person.
ADMISSIBILITY BEST EVIDENCE CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DISCHARGE OF JURY GOOD CHARACTER HEARSAY EVIDENCE SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH CHILDREN SUICIDE
An appellant’s conviction for rape was safe where there was substantial evidence before the jury that the victim was intoxicated and incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse with him. There was no presumption that the conviction was unsafe because the judge did not give a good character direction.
CAUTIONS CONSENT CREDIBILITY CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE GOOD CHARACTER JURY DIRECTIONS RAPE
A judge had not diluted a good character direction by directing a jury that to the extent that they accepted evidence of misconduct additional to that contained on the indictment, they would want to consider whether that evidence reduced the weight which they gave to the fact that the defendant had no previous convictions.
BAD CHARACTER CHILD SEX OFFENCES CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE GOOD CHARACTER JURY DIRECTIONS RAPE STANDARD OF PROOF
A conviction for the sexual assault of a teenage friend of the appellant’s daughter was safe where the jury had been careful to convict only on the count for which there was some support from other witnesses and from the content of a text message sent after the incident.
CORROBORATION CRIMINAL EVIDENCE GOOD CHARACTER JURY DIRECTIONS SEXUAL ASSAULT
A sentence of twelve months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, for six counts of gross indecency with a child was unduly lenient where the offender’s lack of contrition had seriously aggravated his offending, and was replaced with two years and three months’ imprisonment, not suspended.
CHILD SEX OFFENCES GOOD CHARACTER INDECENCY INDECENT ASSAULT OFFENDER TAKING NAKED PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDREN SENTENCING SUSPENSION OF SENTENCE UNDUE LENIENCY
A conviction was quashed where credibility had been the key issue in a sexual offences case and the judge had given an unclear good character direction that was tantamount to a bad character direction.
BAD CHARACTER CLARITY OF DIRECTIONS WHERE CREDIBILITY KEY ISSUE CREDIBILITY CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DELAY GOOD CHARACTER INDECENT ASSAULT JURY DIRECTIONS LUCAS DIRECTIONS MISDIRECTIONS ON LAW
Deficiencies in a judge’s summing up were such as to render a conviction for historic child sex offences unsafe.
BUGGERY CHILD SEX OFFENCES CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DELAY EFFECT OF DEFICIENCIES IN SUMMING UP ON SAFETY OF CONVICTION FOR HISTORIC CHILD SEX OFFENCES GOOD CHARACTER INDECENCY JURY DIRECTIONS LUCAS DIRECTIONS SUMMING UP
Once a judge had decided that a defendant should be treated as being of good character, the judge was required as a matter of law to give the full good character direction and there was no room for a jury to disagree as to the propriety of using the defendant’s good character in his favour.
CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DEFENDANT WITH SPENT CONVICTIONS ENTITLEMENT TO FULL GOOD CHARACTER DIRECTION GOOD CHARACTER JURY DIRECTIONS PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS SEXUAL OFFENCES SPENT CONVICTIONS
Evidence prejudicial to the defence and of no probative value that had inadvertently been disclosed at the appellant’s trial had resulted in unfairness to the appellant and it was doubtful, given the importance of his good character to his defence, that any directions could have overcome that unfairness.
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS CREDIBILITY CRIMINAL EVIDENCE DISCHARGE DISCHARGE OF JURY GOOD CHARACTER INADVERTENT DISCLOSURE JURIES JURY DIRECTIONS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE POLICE WITNESS REVEALED PREVIOUS CHARGE ON SIMILAR OFFENCE PREJUDICIAL EFFECT PROBATIVE VALUE PROPENSITY SEXUAL OFFENCES SUMMING UP UNFAIRNESS TO ACCUSED UNLAWFUL SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
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