Is Criminal Practice Impervious to Logic?: R v Hayter
| Author | Claire McGourlay |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijep.2006.10.2.128 |
| Published date | 01 May 2006 |
| Date | 01 May 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Case Note |
CASE NOTE
IS CRIMINAL PRACTICE IMPERVIOUS TO LOGIC?:RvHAYTER
CASE NOTE
Is criminal practice impervious to
logic?: RvHayter
By Claire McGourlay*
The University of Sheffield
The unsuccessful appeal in RvHayter1is of major importance, as it erodes
one of the core common law principles which has traditionally under-
pinned confession evidence. A defendant’s confession is normally
inadmissible against a co-defendant in a jointly tried criminal case. Hayter calls
this principle into question, but the decision is nonetheless defensible as an appli-
cation of judicial logic.
Background to the appeal
Three defendants were charged with murder and jointly indicted as principals.
The first defendant, Bristow, wanted to arrange a contract killing of her husband.
The second defendant, Hayter, was the go-between who engaged and paid the
third defendant, Ryan, to kill the husband. Bristow’s husband was shot in the head
at point blank range, dying instantly. The principal evidence against Ryan, the
killer, was a confession which he allegedly made to his girlfriend. The trial judge
directed the jury to consider in logical sequence the case against Ryan, the alleged
killer, then against Bristow, the woman who allegedly procured the killing, and
finally against the middleman, Hayter.
The trial judge directed the jury in clear terms that the confession that Ryan
allegedly made to his girlfriend was only evidence against him and not evidence in
the separate cases against Bristow and Hayter. In his summing-up the judge also
told the jury that they should consider the case against Ryan first. If they found
Ryan guilty of murder they could then use that finding of guilt in their consider-
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE & PROOF (2006) 10 E&P 128–133 128
T
1 [2005] UKHL 6, [2005] 1 WLR 605.
* Email: c.mcgourlay@shef.ac.uk.
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