The court considered the intent of section 6(3) of the 1967 Act. Lawton LJ said: ‘Before the passing of the 1967 Act, the law (on alternative verdicts) was partly to be found in the common law and partly in a number of statutes. At common law on an indictment charging felony the accused could be convicted of a less aggravated felony of which the ingredients were included in the felony charged and similarly as regards misdemeanours: but except under statute a conviction for a misdemeanour was not allowed on a charge of felony. The object of the section was to provide a general rule continuing and combining the rules of common law and the provisions of most of the statutes which enabled alternative verdicts to be returned in specific cases or types of cases.’
The test to be applied is this: ‘This can be shown by striking out of the indictment all the averments which had not been proved -the ‘red pencil test’.’
Judges:
Lawton LJ
Citations:
(1972) 56 Cr App R 573, [1972] 2 QB 236
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Graham, Kansal, etc CACD 25-Oct-1996
The court discussed when it was appropriate for the Court of Appeal to substitute other lesser convictions, after the main conviction had been declared unsafe.
Held: After studying the authorities at length, the court felt that the various . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 12 May 2022; Ref: scu.183250
