Court of Criminal Appeal
Published date | 01 April 1941 |
DOI | 10.1177/002201834100500204 |
Date | 01 April 1941 |
Subject Matter | Article |
Court
of
Criminal
Appeal
AIDING AND ABETTING
THE
MURDER OF A
POLICE
OFFICER
R. v. William Appleby
IN
this case
the
appellant was convicted at Leeds Assizes,
together
with
one Ostler, of
murdering
apolice officer.
The
question which
the
Court
of Criminal Appeal had to
consider was
whether
Hilbery
J.
(before
whom
the
case was
tried)
had
given acorrect direction to
the
jury.
The
facts of
the
case were
that
the
appellant and Ostler
were found by
the
murdered
man
breaking into premises
with
the
apparent intention of stealing.
The
prosecution
adduced evidence that when
the
officer attempted to arrest
them
the
appellant used words encouraging Ostler to resist
by violence, and
that
thereafter Ostler shot
and
killed the
police officer.
The
case for
the
prosecution against
the
appellant was that he was a principal in
the
second degree
to
the
murder
as having aided
and
abetted Ostler in its
commission
and
was consequently liable to conviction for
the
murder
along
with
Ostler by whose
hand
the
police
officer
had
died.
The
direction complained of was in
the
following
terms
:-
"
If
you are satisfied
that
these two
men
were
jointly engaged in this felonious enterprise of breaking
and
entering these Co-operative premises in
order
to
steal therein,
and
were united in a common resolution
to resist by violence any constable who should oppose
them,
and
the
shot
was fired at
the
police constable by
one
of
them
in
pursuance
of
that
common resolution
and
killed him, killed
the
constable,
that
is
murder,
and
134
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