Court of Criminal Appeal
| DOI | 10.1177/002201834701100304 |
| Published date | 01 July 1947 |
| Date | 01 July 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Court of Criminal Appeal
PROOF
OF
A
SPECIFIC
INTENT
R. v. Steane
THE decision of
the
Court (Lord Goddard, C.].,
Atkinson
and
Cassels,
]].)
in
R. v. Steane (1947, 1
All
E. R. 813)
is of wider
interest
than
the
immediate
point
with
which
it
was concerned, namely, Detence (General) Regulations,
regulation 2A, which makes
it
an
offence
to
do
an
act
likely
to
assist
the
enemy
with
intent
to
assist
the
enemy.
The
appellant, who was charged with
this
offence, was a British
subject
living
in
Germany
at
the
outbreak
of
war
who
agreed
to
work for his former employers
in
Germany
by
helping
to
produce
films;
he also took
part
in
broadcasting
from Germany.
He
said
in
evidence
that
he was
under
duress when he
did
these acts, being assaulted
and
threat-
ened
with
injuries
and
aconcentration
camp
for himself
and
his wife
and
children.
He
swore
that
he
did
not
have
any
idea or
intention
to
assist
the
enemy
but
that
what
he
did
he
did
to
save his wife
and
children,
not
to
assist
the
enemy.
At
the
trial
at
the
Central Criminal Court, then
trial
judge, in his direction
to
the
jury,
said
that
they
could'
rely on
the
principle
that
a
man
must
intend
the
natural
consequences of his
acts
and
that
therefore
the
accused
might
be said to
have
intended
to
assist
the
enemy.
The
appeal was allowed.
It
was
held
that
the
proper
direction
to
the
jury
would
have
been
that
it
was for
the
prosecution
to
prove
the
criminal intent,
and
that,
while
the
jury
would be
entitled
to presume
that
intent
if
they
thought
that
the
act
was done as
the
result of
the
free,
uncontrolled
action
of
the
accused,
they
would
not
be
entitled
to
presume
it
if
the
circumstances showed
that
the
act
was done in subjection
to
the
power of
the
enemy
or
was equally consistent
with
an
innocent
intent
as
with
a
.criminal intent, for example, adesire
to
save his wife
and
family from aconcentration camp,
and
that
the
jury
should
convict only
if
satisfied
by
the
evidence
that
the
act
com-
plained of was,
in
fact, done
to
assist
the
enemy.
270
To continue reading
Request your trial