A newspaper’s pressure on jury to convict by suggesting other evidence, made the trial unfair. Suggestions of unfairness by judge in his summing up should only be made if supported by counsel at the trial. The degree of adverse comment allowed today was substantially less than it had been 50 years ago. But the defendant allegedly an IRA terrorist, whatever the merits or lack of merits of his defence, was entitled to a fair trial, which the court considered he had not had.
Citations:
Times 11-Jul-1995, Ind Summary 31-Jul-1995, Gazette 31-Aug-1995, [1996] 1 Cr App R 207
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Approved – Mears v Regina PC 1993
The prosecution case relied upon the evidence of a woman with whom the accused cohabited. The prosecution case was that the accused had told the woman that he had killed the victim in a particular way. The defendant denied killing the victim and . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Derek William Bentley (Deceased) CACD 30-Jul-1998
The defendant had been convicted of murder in 1952, and hung. A court hearing an appeal after many years must apply laws from different eras to different aspects. The law of the offence (of murder) to be applied was that at the time of the offence. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Media
Updated: 11 May 2022; Ref: scu.88341