R v Ryder
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 12 March 1993 |
| Date | 12 March 1993 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) |
Court of Appeal, Criminal Division
Before Lord Taylor of Gosforth, Lord Chief Justice, Mr Justice Popplewell and Mr Justice Laws
Criminal evidence - collusion on similar fact evidence - trial within a trial
Where the prosecution sought to adduce similar fact evidence and the defence raised the suggestion of collusion, the judge might find it necessary to hold a voir dire (trial within a trial).
The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, so held in a reserved judgment allowing the appeal of David Robert Ryder against his conviction at Bristol Crown Court (Mr Justice Jowitt and a jury) on May 24, 1989 of rape and attempted buggery. His appeal against further convictions of rape, attempted rape, attempted buggery, theft and assault occasioning actual bodily harm was dismissed. The appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The complainants were four prostitutes, two from town A and two from town B. An application to sever the indictment was refused. A fifth prostitute, from town B gave evidence of rape which was admitted on the basis of similar fact.
The appellant appealed, inter alia, on the grounds that the counts relating to town A should have been severed from the counts relating to town B and/or that the evidence should not have been treated as similar fact evidence.
Mr Anthony Arlidge, QC and Mr Richard Guy, assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals, for the appellant; Mr Christopher Leigh, QC, for the Crown.
THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, giving the judgment of the court, said that the appellant had argued that there might have been collusion within each group of prostitutes and that accordingly the similar fact evidence should either not have been admitted or not have been left to the jury because if there was any suggestion of collusion it was for the Crown to negative that possibility.
The rationale of similar fact evidence was that two or more people did not make up or mistakenly make similar allegations against the same person independently of each other.
In R v KilbourneELR ([1973] AC 729, 750) Lord Reid had said: "If there is any real chance that there has been collusion between the makers of the two statements we should not accept them as corroborative."
Similar dicta were to be found in R v BoardmanELR ([1975] AC 421); R v BedfordUNK((1990) 93 Cr App R 113) and R v BrooksUNK ((1990) 92 Cr App R 36).
In Cross on Evidence (7th edition (1990) p365) it was submitted that "The...
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...which would cause common sense to revolt at a hypothesis of mere coincidence." 34The second case referred to by the appellant was Reg. v. Ryder [1994] 2 All E.R. 859 in which a court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice had to deal with the situation where the prosecution sought to admi......
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...cause common sense to revolt at a hypothesis of mere coincidence." 34The second case referred to by the appellant was Reg. v. Ryder [1994] 2 All E.R. 859 in which a court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice had to deal with the situation where the prosecution sought to admit similar fac......
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R v H (1995)
...which would cause common sense to revolt at a hypothesis of mere coincidence." 34The second case referred to by the appellant was Reg. v. Ryder [1994] 2 All E.R. 859 in which a court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice had to deal with the situation where the prosecution sought to admi......
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R v H (1995)
...which would cause common sense to revolt at a hypothesis of mere coincidence." 34The second case referred to by the appellant was Reg. v. Ryder [1994] 2 All E.R. 859 in which a court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice had to deal with the situation where the prosecution sought to admi......
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