The defence had made a successful application at trial for a stay of the proceedings on the basis that the police had seized a CCTV film during their investigation and had viewed it but had failed to secure it and it disappeared prior to trial. Its existence was not revealed by police to the Crown Prosecution Service or to the defence even after specific requests had been made for the unused material. It was clear that the camera from which the film had come viewed part of the scene where some of the relevant events had taken place.
Held: A failure to disclose evidentiary materials which could not be reconstituted led to an end to the proceeding. The categories of abuse of process are not mutually exclusive and the facts of a particular case may give rise to an application to stay involving more than one alleged form of abuse.
Citations:
[1992] Crim LR 117
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Practice
Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.540238