Court of Criminal Appeal
| Published date | 01 October 1946 |
| Date | 01 October 1946 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201834601000405 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Court
of Criminal Appeal
EVIDENCE
OF
BAD
DISPOSITION.
SEPARATE
OFFENCES
IN
ONE
INDICTMRNT
R. v. Sims
THI S case
(1946,
1
All
E.R.
697) which was heard
by
aCourt consisting of five judges (Lord Goddard,
L.C.]., Oliver, Croom-Johnson, Denning
and
Lynskey
JJ.)
turned
on two
main
points, one concerned with
the
dis-
cretion of
the
trial judge to order separate trials of separate
offences charged in different counts of
the
indictment,
the
other
arising
out
of
the
principle
that
evidence of
bad
character is
not
admissible.
The
appellant was charged
on
an
indictment containing
ten
counts, three of which
alleged buggery with three men, three, as
an
alternative,
gross indecency with
the
same men, one gross indecency
with afourth man,
and
the
remaining three indecent
assaults on three boys. An application for separate trials
in respect of each separate
man
or boy involved was refused
in so far as
the
charges against
the
four men were con-
cerned
and
the
charges were
tried
together.
The
appellant
was found guilty of buggery with
the
three
men,
but
acquitted
of gross indecency with
the
fourth man.
The
counts were properly included in one indictment
by
virtue
of
the
Indictments
Act
1915, Sched. I, r. 3, which allows
joinder of charges if
they
are "founded on
the
same facts,
or form or are a
part
of a series of offences of
the
same or a
similar character".
But
s. 5
(3)
of
the
Act
confers a
discretion on
the
trial judge to order aseparate
trial
on
any
count
or counts if
the
accused
"may
be prejudiced or
embarrassed in his defence
by
reason of being charged with
more
than
one offence in
the
same indictment".
It
was
contended for
the
appellant
that
on
the
trial on
the
counts
in respect of one man, evidence in respect of
the
other
men
was
not
admissible,
and
the
appellant had, therefore, been
improperly prejudiced
by
the
joint
trial before
the
one
s273
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