The defendant appealed his conviction. He complained that the judge had not given the full good character direction, on the basis of a previous conviction for driving whilst uninsured.
Held: Whether to withhold the direction was a matter for the judge’s discretion. Driving without insurance might be anything from a flagrant offence to a technical one. The direction should not be withdrawn without the judge kowing the circumstances of the conviction. The failure to give a direction was a non-direction, but the giving of a bad character direction was a mis-direction. The direction went here as to credibility, but that had not been an issue in this case.
Judges:
Mantell LJ, Elias, Jack JJ
Citations:
Times 27-Oct-2003
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Practice
Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.187200