Spinks was charged under section 4(1) of the 1967 Act, in that knowing or believing that a Mr Fairey had committed an arrestable offence, he acted with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution. To prove that Fairey had committed an arrestable offence, the prosecution relied on police officers statements as to statements made by Fairey, in the absence of the defendant, in which he said that he had stabbed someone. A submission of no case to answer was rejected and Spinks was convicted.
Held: The Court allowed his appeal. The court referred to ‘the universal rule which excludes out of court admissions being used to provide evidence against a co-accused, whether indicted jointly or separately’. ‘In the judgment of this Court the offence with which the appellant was charged and the means of establishing it do not provide any exception to the universal rule which excludes out of court admissions being used to provide evidence against a co-accused, whether indicted jointly or separately’ and ‘In his summing-up the learned recorder left the jury with the clear impression that they could, if they wished, rely upon Fairey’s admissions to prove the wounding, not only against him but against the appellant. In doing so there was a plain misdirection.’
Watkins LJ, Kilner Brown and Russell JJ
[1982] 1 All ER 587
Criminal Law Act 1967 4(1)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Hayter HL 3-Feb-2005
The House considered the principle that the confession of a defendant is inadmissible in a joint criminal case against a co-defendant. In a trial for murder, one party was accused of requesting a middleman to arrange for the murder by a third party. . .
Cited – Persad v Trinidad and Tobago PC 23-Jul-2007
(Trinidad and Tobago) The Board considered the admissibility of out of court admissions as against co-defendants. Three defendants faced allegations of a series of violent crimes. The appellant said the only evidence against him for an offence of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 15 October 2021; Ref: scu.222542
