Regina v Cairns: CACD 1983

The defendant was committed for trial on seven charges of fraud. An eighth was then added under a voluntary bill of indictment, and a circuit judge confirmed a new indictment with all the eight charges. He appealed.
Held: His appeal succeeded. One indictment could be amended to include the other charges, but there was no jurisdiction to create a new indictment containing a charge evidence for which had not been presented on a committal. The new indictment was a nullity.

Citations:

(1983) 87 Cr App R 287, [1983] Crim LR 620

Statutes:

Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 2(2), Criminal Justice Act 1967 2(8)(c)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

AppliedRegina v Thompson 1975
The defendant appealed saying that the prosecution had broken the principle ‘that it is only once that an indictment can be preferred upon the basis of one committal’.
Held: The trial had taken place upon an invalid indictment not properly . .

Cited by:

CitedClarke, Regina v; Regina v McDaid HL 6-Feb-2008
An indictment had not been signed despite a clear statutory provision that it should be. The defects were claimed to have been cured by amendment before sentence.
Held: The convictions failed. Sections 1(1) and 2(1) of the 1933 Act which . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 18 June 2022; Ref: scu.267619