R v Banks
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 1911 |
| Date | 1911 |
| Court | Court of Appeal |
Criminal Law - Carnal Knowledge of Girl between Thirteen and Sixteen Years of Age - “Reasonable cause to believe” Girl Sixteen Years of Age - Duty of Counsel in Conduct of Prosecution -
By s. 5, sub-s. 1, of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, any person who unlawfully carnally knows any girl of or above the age of thirteen and under the age of sixteen years is guilty of a misdemeanour. By sub-s. 2 it is provided that it shall be a sufficient defence to a charge under sub-s. 1 that the person so charged had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of or above the age of sixteen years:—
Held, that in order to constitute a defence under sub-s. 2 the person charged must have reasonable cause to believe, and must in fact believe, that the girl was at least sixteen years of age.
Observations as to the duty of counsel for the prosecution at a criminal trial.
APPEAL by the prisoner against his conviction.
The prisoner was convicted on June 9, 1916, before Bray J. at the Worcester Assizes of having unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl of the age of fourteen years. At the trial the prisoner, who gave evidence, did not dispute that he had had connection with the girl, the only defence being that he “had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of or above the age of sixteen years” within the meaning of s. 5, sub-s. 2, of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885.F1 He said that he had no idea that the girl was under the age of sixteen and that he did not think about her age at all, but that she had the appearance of a girl of seventeen.
During his address to the jury counsel for the prosecution exhorted them “to protect young girls from men like the prisoner.”
The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
The prisoner appealed.
S. R. C. Bosanquet, for the appellant. If the appellant had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of the age of sixteen he was entitled to an acquittal under s. 5, sub-s. 2, of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885. It is not necessary that he should have in fact believed that she was of that age.
Counsel for the prosecution ought not to have given the exhortation to the jury. There is a growing tendency on the part of counsel for the prosecution to conduct cases as advocates rather than as ministers of justice. Counsel ought not to struggle to obtain a verdict: Reg. v....
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