The defendant was accused of rape and other indecent assaults going back some 20 years. He appealed against a refusal of a stay on the grounds of abuse of process given the very long delay before any complaint was made.
Held: The application should have been granted and a stay was ordered. The test was whether a fair trial would be possible. In this case, the delay had been very long, and there was no physical evidence, only oral testimony, and the defence would be artificially restricted also in its scope to cross examine the complainants.
Judges:
Ognall J
Citations:
[1992] Crim LR 31
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Followed – Regina v Telford Justices, ex parte Badhan CACD 1991
The defendant was accused of a sexual offence alleged to have been committed some 15 years earlier. He asked the magistrates to dismiss the charge as an abuse of process, and now appealed their refusal.
Held: The onus was on the accused to . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Khan and Others CACD 7-Oct-2011
The appellants challenged their convictions for the fraudulent use of falsely completed applications to vote by post. They said that the prosecutors had failed properly to disclose other postal applications also suspected and collected by the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.445157