Appeal against Conviction by Kyle Kernachan against His Majesty's Advocate
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Lord Justice Clerk,Lord Doherty,Lord Armstrong |
| Judgment Date | 18 December 2025 |
| Neutral Citation | [2025] HCJAC 54 |
| Docket Number | HCA/2025/000232/XC |
| Published date | 18 December 2025 |
| Court | High Court of Justiciary |
| Date | 18 December 2025 |
APPEAL COURT, HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY
[2025] HCJAC 54
HCA/2025/000232/XC
Lord Justice Clerk
Lord Doherty
Lord Armstrong
OPINION OF THE COURT
delivered by LORD BECKETT, THE LORD JUSTICE CLERK
in
APPEAL AGAINST CONVICTION
by
KYLE KERNACHAN
Appellant
against
HIS MAJESTY’S ADVOCATE
Respondent
Appellant: Ogg, sol adv; Paterson Bell, Edinburgh
Respondent: Cameron KC, sol adv; the Crown Agent
18 December 2025
Introduction
[1] The appellant challenges his conviction on two charges of sexual oending,
following a four-day trial between 4 and 9 April 2025 in the High Court of Justiciary, on the
ground of evidence not heard at his trial: Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 section
106(3)(a). On 4 December 2025, we heard evidence from the appellant, Sophie Allan-Fowler,
[CC] whose married name was [CD] and Lisa Kernachan in support of his appeal. When we
2
refer below to CC and CD we are referring to the same person. The Crown adduced AA and
BB, the respective complainers on the two charges, and Police Sergeant Mark Hayton.
The trial
[2] The charges the appellant was convicted of were these:
“(001) on an occasion between 3 February 2015 and 31 October 2016, both dates
inclusive, at Marine Drive, Silverknowes Beach, Edinburgh, you KYLE
KERNACHAN did assault [AA], your partner, …and you did penetrate her vagina
with a crowbar or similar implement to her injury: CONTRARY to Section 2 of the
Sexual Oences (Scotland) Act 2009;
(004) on 21 January 2017 at [an address in north] Edinburgh you KYLE
KERNACHAN did assault [BB] and did, while she was intoxicated, asleep and
incapable of giving or withholding consent, remove her lower clothing, expose her
breasts and penetrate her vagina with your penis and you did thus rape her:
CONTRARY to Section 1 of the Sexual Oences (Scotland) Act 2009.”
Charge 1
[3] AA gave evidence on commission on 6 January 2025 and the recording was played to
the jury on 7 April 2025. AA was 17 or 18 at the time of charge 1 and the appellant was
about two years older. They were in a sexual relationship. She agreed to go with him by car
to the seaside at Silverknowes where they parked. They kissed consensually as they sat in
the front seats. The appellant then took a crowbar from the back seat and said he wanted to
penetrate AA’s vagina with it. She refused. He was persistent, insisting she would enjoy it,
and he proceeded to insert the crowbar into her vagina despite her refusal. It made her
bleed internally, to the appellant’s apparent disapproval. Bleeding continued for several
days.
[4] During her evidence, AA was shown and spoke to an exchange of text messages
between her and BB occurring in 2017, production 29, and another in 2022, production 30.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting