The defendant appealed his conviction for affray saying that since there was only one person present and the magistrates, having seen CCTV of the events had not taken other evidence.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘it was quite open to the magistrates to record what they had seen, as long as they went on to ask themselves the correct statutory question. In this case that is precisely what they did. In those circumstances there can be no doubt that the way they approached this issue is correct. I stress that there is no reason why, in reaching their decision, the magistrates were precluded from looking to see how people actually reacted, as long as they went on, as they did in this case, to consider the view of the hypothetical bystander.’
Judges:
Silber J
Citations:
[2013] EWHC 610 (Admin)
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Director of Public Prosecution v Cotcher Admn 7-Dec-1992
Evans LJ discussed the offence of affray saying that the court can take into account the reaction of other people who were present: ‘are in no sense bound to conclude that the statutory test was not satisfied merely because those persons were not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Evidence
Updated: 16 August 2022; Ref: scu.491889