27 Nov 2009
WI V R SC 28/2009
- Citation
- SC 28/2009
- Court
- Supreme Court
Evidence that a defendant has no, or no relevant, previous convictions is not admissible as veracity evidence because it fails the 'substantially helpful' test in s37; however it is admissible as propensity (good character) evidence under s40 and s7 because it has at least a slight tendency to show lack of propensity to commit the offence; in the present case exclusion of the evidence was harmless and did not cause a miscarriage of justice, so the appeal is dismissed.