20 Oct 2023
Leave to appeal was dismissed because the Court was not satisfied there was any error in the Court of Appeal's handling of the grounds, the trial Judge was not obliged to give a lies direction in the circumstances, the prosecutor's errors did not produce a real and substantial risk of miscarriage, and therefore leave under s 74 was not justified.
25 Aug 2023
The Court dismissed the appeal: limited references by the prosecutor to an EVI and to downloaded text messages not produced at trial, and comments about consistency and the defence 'clutching at straws', did not amount to inviting the jury to rely on evidence not before them nor did they reverse the burden of proof; the trial judge's orthodox directions and the substantial admissible evidence of consistency meant no miscarriage of justice occurred; the six‑year starting point and final sentence were within the applicable R v AM sentencing band given the repetitive, invasive nature of the offe…
3 Aug 2023
No miscarriage of justice was established and the trial judge's discretionary decisions on the adjournment, juror exclusion, admissibility of text messages and police interview, and summing up directions were lawful and did not unfairly prejudice the appellant; similarly the sentencing starting point, uplift and discounts were within range and the sentence of 10 years 8 months was not manifestly excessive, so both appeals were dismissed.
28 Jun 2023
Judge Duffy held s 57(2A) Evidence Act is not limited to guilty-plea bargaining and can cover broader plea discussions; Committee No 1's vexatious finding lacked evidential foundation and breached natural justice and must be declared unlawful; Committee No 3 failed to consider the entire substance of the first complaint and wrongly characterised the whole complaint as vexatious; however no prosecutorial misconduct was found on the record and further remedial orders were declined as futile, with limited declarations granted.
14 Mar 2023
Leave to bring a second appeal was declined because the issues were case-specific and not of general or public importance, there was no reasonably arguable miscarriage of justice or error of principle in the lower courts' exercise of discretion, the claimed accommodation and books were not recoverable as 'costs of defence', and the police acted in good faith such that denying leave posed no risk of miscarriage.
10 Mar 2023
The High Court declined leave to appeal out of time and dismissed the substantive appeal because the District Court did not err in exercising its s5 discretion: the prosecution was commenced and continued in good faith with sufficient evidence at the time of charging, the investigation was reasonable, and the appellant's conduct during investigation and trial weighed against awarding costs; references to civil proceedings were of limited relevance and did not render the decision unlawful.
14 Dec 2022
Notice of abandonment was set aside because the appellant's abandonment was linked to unsatisfactory conduct by the solicitor who handled the appeal steps; however, after considering the merits the Court dismissed the appeal because the appellant failed to establish a miscarriage of justice — trial counsel's tactical decisions (relying on a comprehensive police video interview and concerns about calling the appellant) were reasonable, there was no demonstrable prejudice from not calling the brother and his later affidavit was neither sufficiently credible nor cogent as fresh evidence, and the…
29 Jun 2022
Majority held s 66(2) secondary liability for manslaughter does not require the secondary party to have foreseen death; it is sufficient that the secondary party foresaw an unlawful act likely to do more than trivial harm as a probable consequence of the common purpose and that act was a substantial and operative cause of death; the trial Judge's directions were correct and other challenged directions and prosecutorial conduct did not cause a miscarriage of justice; sentence was within available range and not manifestly excessive.
13 Oct 2021
No miscarriage of justice was established: the juror's discharge and any awareness of external protests were too speculative to have created a real risk of affecting the outcome given the judge's inquiries and directions and the jury's stated ability to continue; the prosecutor's questioning, while undesirable, was not sufficiently emotive, persistent or overbearing and was cured by the judge's strong direction; accordingly the appeal is dismissed while extension of time and leave to amend are granted.
30 Apr 2021
No miscarriage of justice: Crown's opening, while using 'overwhelming', did not deprive jury of impartial assessment given context and judicial directions; closing was proper advocacy and case on identity was overwhelming; police re-questioning about newly discovered keys after re-cautioning was not overbearing and the statements were admissible; sentencing Judge properly applied s 27 factors, allowed a one year (10%) discount and the overall nine year sentence was not manifestly excessive.