The defendants, former police officers appealed against convictions saying that the principal prosecution witness had since been shown to be corrupt as a result of the Lawrence Inquiry.
Held: The appeal failed. The witness: ‘was at the time of the Appellants’ trial known to be devious, a skilled liar, out to advance his own position where he thought he could, and capable of prodigious feats of recall. The addition to that opprobrium of one allegation against Davidson, once explored, would not in the scheme of things have been of the significance necessary to cast doubt upon the safety of their convictions.’
Rafferty DBE LJ, Burnett, Holroyde JJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 1420
Bailii
England and Wales
Crime
Updated: 16 December 2021; Ref: scu.533947