In the Scottish Courts
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836102500206 |
| Published date | 01 April 1961 |
| Date | 01 April 1961 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
In the Scottish Courts
BLACKMAIL-EVIDENCE
Hopes
and Another o, H.M. Advocate
(1960,
S.L.T.
264)
THIS started off as a typical case of blackmail, in which after
certain demands had been made on Ahe sought the aid
of the police.
They
arranged atrap and the interesting features
of the case are the methods used by the investigating officers
and the weight to be attached to certain evidence offered by the
prosecution.
A meeting had been arranged in a railway station
but
before he kept the appointment Awas provided by the police
with a small microphone.
They
then set up a receiving set
in a room in the station and installed a tape-recorder alongside
that set.
In
the course of the trial the prosecution produced a
police officer to speak to what he had heard over this wireless
set-up.
In
effect what was transmitted to him from the micro-
phone carried by Ato the receiving set.
This
line of evidence was objected to on behalf of the
accused on the ground that it was illegally and irregularly
obtained being the result of a deliberate trick on the part of
the police.
It
was argued that the setting up of a trap of this
nature at least required explanation and justification and as it
was it was unfair to the accused.
In
disposing of this point the Presiding Judge, Lord
Justice Clerk Thomson, commented on the procedure by the
police in cases of this type where they suggest an apparent
yielding by the victim in circumstances where they, the police,
can observe or overhear what takes place. That, he thought,
did not contravene any principle or Infringe any right, and is
often the only way in which such crimes can be brought home
to those who commit them.
If
that were so, the only point in
this argument was whether it made any difference that those
concerned did not overhear the conversation direct
but
had it
relayed to them by means of wireless.
In
his words
"I
can
not see that this feature makes the slightest difference to the
uS
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