McCrindle v MacMillan
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 17 July 1930 |
| Docket Number | No. 9. |
| Date | 17 July 1930 |
| Court | High Court of Justiciary |
HIGH COURT.
Lord Justice-General. Lord Blackburn. Lord Morison.
Evidence in Criminal Cases— Sufficiency—Indecent assault on girl of thirteen—Identification of accused—Corroboration of girl's evidence by evidence of her statements de recenti.
An accused person was tried before a Sheriff-substitute upon a complaint which set forth that he indecently assaulted a girl of thirteen years of age. The fact that an assault had been committed was not disputed, the only question being whether the accused was the assailant. At the trial the girl identified the accused, whom she knew prior to the assault, as her assailant, and it was proved that he had been near thelocus of the assault about the time it was committed. Her parents and others deponed that, within a few minutes of the assault, she had stated that he had committed it, and had repeated this statement shortly afterwards on being confronted with the accused, in whose presence she had shown alarm. Some hours after the assault the girl made a statement to the police to the effect that the dress and appearance of her assailant were different from those of the accused. This statement was proved to have been made at the instigation of, and under pressure by, the accused's parents out with his presence. The Sheriff-substitute convicted the accused.
Held, on appeal, that he was entitled to do so, in respect that the girl's evidence was sufficiently corroborated by her statements and actions de recenti.
Alexander M'Crindle, fisherman, Girvan, was tried in the Sheriff Court at Ayr, before the Sheriff-substitute (Haldane), on a complaint which set forth that he indecently assaulted Margaret Gray, aged thirteen years. The Sheriff-substitute found the accused guilty, and, at his request, stated a case for appeal to the High Court of Justiciary.
The case set forth that the fact that an assault was committed on the girl was proved, and was not disputed; the only question being whether the appellant was the assailant. The case further stated that the following facts were proved:—"(1) That in the evening on the date libelled, the girl went to the stable libelled, which is a short distance from her home, to feed a pony belonging to her father; was followed into the stable by a man who was loitering outside it; and, without any provocation offered by her, was assaulted by that man inside the stable in the manner libelled in the complaint. (2) That when she entered the stable it was sufficiently light for her to be able to identify the man whom she saw loitering outside; and that she took with her into the stable a lighted lamp by the light of which she could identify him inside the stable. (3) That the appellant was sufficiently well known to her, at and prior to the time of the assault, for her to be able to identify him at sight. (4) That within a few minutes of the commission of the assault, and while she was still labouring under the emotional disturbance caused by it, she went home and spontaneously told her parents, and a woman friend whom...
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Morton v H. M. Advocate
...direct evidence that of a witness, who had seen the assault committed but was unable to identify the assailant. M'Crindle v. MacMillan, 1930 J. C. 56,overruled, and dicta in M'Lennan v. H. M. Advocate, 1928 J. C. 39, and Strathern v. Lambie, 1934 J. C. 137, disapproved. Henry Morton was tri......
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Reference By Hma Against Clb
...a particularly distressed state. [66] Two years later, following publication of the fourth edition of Macdonald, in McCrindle v Macmillan 1930 JC 56, the charge was one of indecent assault on a 13 year old girl. There was no doubt that such an assault had occurred. The issue was whether the......
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Bill Of Suspension By Christopher O'shea Against Procurator Fical, Paisley
...view that statements of a complainer made de recenti could provide corroboration of the complainer’s own testimony (McCrindle v MacMillan 1930 JC 56 and McLennan v HM Advocate 1928 JC 39). [32] In McLennan, a child of 6 had testified to being abused. Evidence about what he had said to his p......