R v Simon Harwood

Judgment

Cited authorities 20

Cited in

Precedent Map

Jurisdiction	England & Wales
Judgment Date	24 July 2012
Subject Matter	Criminal
Court	Crown Court



IntheSouthwarkCrownCourt



MrJusticeFulford20thJuly2012



Between:



Regina

‐v‐

SimonHarwood



Judgment



Backgroundandsubmissions



1. ThisdecisionconcernstworeportsontheMail’sOnlinewebsiteconcerning

inadmissiblematerialrelatingtoallegedearlierincidentsofviolenceonthepart

ofthedefendant.



2. On22May2012IdecidedinaRuling(handeddowninwriting)thatthe

prosecutionwasnotentitledtointroduceevidenceoftwoallegedprevious

incidentsofbadcharacter,namely:



FIRST:Materialrelatingtoaneventon25thMay2005whenthe

defendantwasallegedlyinvolvedwithanumberofotherofficersinthe

arrestofMr.Owusu‐Afriye.Itisallegedheusedunnecessaryforceby

deliveringakneestriketotheleftsideofMr.Owusu‐Afriye’storso,inthe

areaofhiskidneys.



SECOND:Evidencerelatingtoanincidenton24thNovember2008when

thedefendantwasinvolvedwith5otherofficersinstoppingand

searchingthevehicleofMr.JuniorSamms,anAApatrolman.Theconduct

ofthedefendantissaidtohavebeentheworstofthepolicemenwho

haddealingswithMr.SammsinthatitisallegedhetwistedMr.Samms’

armwhenhewashandcuffedandrepeatedlytoldhimto“shutup”.



3. Inotedthat:



“[…]insupportofthetwoincidentstheprosecutionhavelimitedtheir

applicationtocallingtwowitnessesonly:MrWard(apassingmemberof

thepublic)asregardstheincidenton25thMay2005andMr.Sammsfor

theeventson24thNovember2008.TheProsecutiondoesnotproposeto

callMr.Owusu‐Afriye,PoliceConstablesCalver,Jury,LeungandWilson,

PoliceSergeantPaulandadoctorfortheincidentconcerningMrOwusu‐

AfriyeandPoliceConstablesWalker,MitchellandJackamanandPolice

SergeantBowmanandafurtherofficerfortheincidentconcerningMr

Samms.Thevariouspoliceconstableswerepresentatbothevents(Police

SergeantPaulwasalsopresentwhenMrOwusu‐Afriyewasdetained)and

theirstatementsinvaryingdegreessignificantlycontradicttheaccounts

ofthetwocomplainants.



4. Againstthatbackground,Iconcluded:



“[…]Ihavenodoubtthatpursuanttosection101(3)thismaterialwould

havesuchanadverseeffectonthefairnessoftheproceedingsthatthe

courtoughtnottoadmitit.Thejurywouldineffecthavetoconduct

threetrials,thefirstrelatingtotheindexoffenceandtheothertwo

concerningtheaccused’sallegedpropensitytoactinthemanneralleged

againsthimon1stApril2009.Themixedfactualandlegalissueswould

becomeexcessivelycomplex,inthatthejurywouldneedtoensurethat

theirapproachtothelegalelementsoftheindexoffencewasonly

properlyinfluencedbytheirfactualfindingsreachedtothecriminal

standardinrelationtoallthreeincidents.Giventhefactsonthecentral

incidentarenotnecessarilyatallstraightforward,toaddtwostrongly

disputedadditionalallegationsforthepurposesadvancedbythe

prosecutionwouldundoubtedlyputthefairnessoftheseproceedingsin

jeopardy.”



5. NotwithstandingthatRuling,priortothecommencementofthistrialitwas

broughttomyattentionbythepartiesthatanumberofwebsitesrunbyvarious

newspapersandatleastonebroadcastercontainedarticlesthatwerereadily

availableanddatedbackto2010,inwhichunprovenallegationsmadeagainstPC

Harwoodwererehearsed(theseincludedtheMail,theTelegraph,theMirror

andChannel4News).Bywayofexample,therecontinuedtobereadilyavailable

ontheMail’sOnlinewebsite(certainlyuntillateinthetrial)

thefollowingextractthatistakenfromalongerarticleentitled“’Cover‐up’

stormoverG20death:FuryasDPPrulespolicemanwhohitnewsvendorwon’t

becharged”(dated23July2010):



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R v Simon Harwood

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