The evidence against the defendant was that he was the holder and user of mobile telephone lines used in a kidnapping. The court used evidence of the numbers stored in other mobile phones contacted by him to show that he was part of a conspiracy. It was argued that the Act had not intended to abolish the common law rule against the admissibility of hearsay as set out in Kearsley. The purpose of section 115(3) was to draw a line between intentional and unintentional implied hearsay. Only hearsay statements were admissible under s114.
Held: The relationship between the sections was obscure. The common law rules on hearsay were abolished by sections 118 and 114 save only where they were expressly saved. The evidence in Kearsley would now be admitted as direct evidence of the existence of a market for drugs from the premises. The entries were not a ‘statement’, nor were they ‘matters stated’ for the purposes of section 115 and so not caught by the statutory hearsay rules. They were rather ‘implied assertions’. They might also be admitted under sections 118(1) or under 114(2)(d).
Judges:
Rose LJ VP, Rafferty J, Sir Douglas Brown
Citations:
Times 08-Mar-2006, [2006] EWCA Crim 660, [2006] Crim LR 647, [2006] 1 WLR 1564, [2006] 2 Cr App R 12
Links:
Statutes:
Criminal Justice Act 2003 114 118
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
No longer effective – Regina v Kearley HL 3-Jun-1992
Telephone calls which were made to the defendant’s phone asking for drugs, but made after the arrest of the defendant for supplying drugs were inadmissible as hearsay. They were adduced to prove, by implication, the fact that he, as an occupier of . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Leonard CACD 28-Apr-2009
The defendant appealed against his convictions for possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply. He complained at the use of of text messages found on his phone against him, saying they were hearsay.
Held: The texts contained . .
Cited – Regina v MK CACD 4-Dec-2007
The prosecution sought to introduce evidence of the words used in a phone call between someone wanting drugs and the defendant, who was accused (amongst other things) of being concerned in making an offer to supply a controlled drug of class, ie . .
Cited – Regina v Twist and Others CACD 12-May-2011
The court considered the application of the 2003 Act to communications made to, or by, the defendant, and in particular text messages sent by mobile telephone.
Held: The four appeals against conviction were dismissed. Singh established that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Evidence
Updated: 23 November 2022; Ref: scu.240170