The defendant gave three contradictory stories to explain a valuable painting found under his bed. He appealed his conviction, saying the judge should have given a Lucas direction to the effect that the fact that he had lied, did not mean inevitably that he was guilty. Many defendants to handling charges will give stories which will not be believed.
Held: A Lucas direction need not always been given, and it would be absurd to suggest one was always required in handling cases. It was necessary to avoid the ‘forbidden lines’ of reasoning, but that had been done in this case.
Judges:
Lord Justice Rose, Mr Justice Jackson and Mr Justice Owen
Citations:
Times 28-Mar-2002
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Lucas (Ruth) CACD 1981
People sometimes tell lies for reasons other than a belief that they are necessary to conceal guilt.
Four conditions were identified which must be satisfied before a defendant’s lie could be seen as supporting the prosecution case:-
(1) . .
Cited – Regina v Middleton CACD 12-Apr-2000
Where a defendant was shown to have lied in the course of proceedings it need not always be necessary to give a Lucas direction. In some circumstances the jury could properly be expected not to follow a prohibited line of reasoning without such a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.168066