R v Ward

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
Judgment Date26 July 1993
Date26 July 1993
CourtCourt of Appeal (Criminal Division)

Court of Appeal

Before Lord Justice Kennedy, Mr Justice Morland and Mr Justice Cresswell

Regina
and
Ward

Criminal evidence - current police code - applied to breach of earlier code

Current evidence code relevant to earlier breach

A court could have regard to the current Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (s.66) Codes of Practice when considering the fairness of something done before the code came into force.

Their Lordships so stated when dismissing the appeal of Wayne Ward against his conviction on May 11, 1992 at Liverpool Crown Court (Mr Assistant Recorder Holman, QC and a jury) of reckless driving and taking a conveyance without authority.

Mr Gerald Baxter, who did not appear at the trial, assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals, for the appellant; Mr Andrew McDonald, who did not appear at the trial, for the Crown.

MR JUSTICE MORLAND, giving the judgment of the court, said that a stolen car, which was being chased by the police, crashed and the occupants dispersed. The police searched the vicinity and found the appellant, hiding. A conversation then took place between the appellant and two police officers.

In a trial within the trial it was submitted to the assistant recorder that that amounted to an interview and that because of breaches of the 1985 code evidence of the interview should be excluded.

The assistant recorder ruled that the conversation did not constitute an interview and evidence of it would be admitted.

No specific reference was made to section 78 of the 1984 Act, but in their Lordships' judgment the wording of that section and the necessity to consider fairness must have been in the forefront of the minds of counsel and the assistant recorder.

Before their Lordships it was submitted for the appellant that the assistant recorder should have had in mind the existence of paragraph C11.13 of the 1991 code, which started: "A written record should also be made of any comments made by a suspected person, including unsolicited comments, which are outside the context of an interview but which might be relevant to the offence…"

It was clear that that provision had not been mentioned to the assistant recorder and counsel for the Crown submitted, citing R v PurcellUNK ((1992) Crim LR 806), that the court should not have regard to the current code when considering applications to exclude evidence of breaches of the earlier code.

But the existence of the new code, and in particular that paragraph, might well be relevant...

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200 cases
  • R v Derby Magistrates' Court, ex parte B
    • United Kingdom
    • House of Lords
    • June 22, 1995
    ...cases should not be followed since there has been a change in the approach of the courts to disclosure following, inter alia, the cases of Reg. v. Ward [1993] 1 W.L.R. 619 and Reg. v. Keane (1994) 99 C.A.R. 1. There is no doubt that the duty on the prosecution to disclose material in its p......
  • PP; Yeo Tse Soon and Another
    • Malaysia
    • Court of Appeal (Malaysia)
    • Invalid date
  • R v Robinson (Raymond)
    • United Kingdom
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • November 12, 1993
    ... ... 18 There have been cases where medical evidence has been ruled admissible to attack the reliability of a prosecution witness ( R v Toohey, [1965] AC 595) or to cast doubt on the reliability of confessions by the defendant ( R v Raghip and others (CA judgment 5 December 1991), and R v Ward 95 Cr App R 1) ... 19 In Mackenney and Pinfold 76 Cr App R 271, it was held that a psychologist with no medical qualifications could not be called to give evidence as to whether a defendant was suffering from any disease, defect or abnormality of mind, but that psychiatric evidence ... ...
  • R v Davis (1993)
    • United Kingdom
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • Invalid date
    ... ... Held, that, in the circumstances, the court would not depart from the order made on the ex parte application (post, p. 618G) ... Practice Note (Criminal Evidence: Unused Material) [1982] 1 All E.R. 734 and Reg. v. Ward [1993] 1 W.L.R. 619, C.A. applied ... The following cases are referred to in the judgment: ... Practice Note (Criminal Evidence: Unused Material) [1982] 1 All E.R. 734 ... Reg. v. Hennessey (Timothy) (1978) 68 Cr.App.R. 419, C.A ... Reg. v. Ward [1993] 1 W.L.R. 619, C.A ... The following ... ...
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34 books & journal articles
  • Subject Index
    • United Kingdom
    • Sage International Journal of Evidence & Proof, The No. 9-4, December 2005
    • December 1, 2005
    ...App R 213........248R v Vo ( 1992) 15 WCB (2d) 241 (Man. CA) .... 103R v Wang [2005] UKHL 9 ..............................2 20R v Ward [1993] 1 WLR 619 ........................2 65R v Warner (1993) 96 Cr App R 324......... 119R v Weber [2004] UKHL 1........................... 50–4R v Weir [......
  • Fresh Evidence and Factual Innocence in the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal
    • United Kingdom
    • Sage Journal of Criminal Law, The No. 81-4, August 2017
    • August 1, 2017
    ...and Compensating Miscarriages of Justice’ (2003) 66(3) Modern Law Review441.4. See, for example, RvFell [2001] EWCA Crim 696; RvWard [1993] 96 Cr App R 1; RvKelly [2003] EWCA Crim 2957; RvMartin C [2003] EWCA Crim 1246; RvMattan The Times, 5 March 1998; RvRoberts [1998] EWCA Crim 998.5. Thi......
  • Subject Index
    • United Kingdom
    • Sage International Journal of Evidence & Proof, The No. 8-4, December 2004
    • December 1, 2004
    ...JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE & PROOFINDEXESR v Vetrovec [1982] 1 SCR 811 ........ 198R v Walker [1998] Crim LR 211 ....... 173R v Ward (1993) 96 Cr App R 1, [1993] 1WLR 619, CA ................ 183, 201, 230R v Watson (1980) 70 Cr App R 273 . 172R v West [1996] 2 Cr App R 374 .. 32, 38,40, 41, 45R v......
  • Subject Index
    • United Kingdom
    • Sage International Journal of Evidence & Proof, The No. 7-4, December 2003
    • December 1, 2003
    ...173R v Turner [1995] 1 WLR 264 .. 124, 127R v Veneroso [2002] Crim LR 306 ......48R v Voisin [1918] 1 KB 531................ 253R v Ward [1993] 1 WLR 619 ...... 102, 118R v Wheeler [2001] 1 Cr App R 10 ... 114R v Willis (1979) unreported .............90R v X JJ, ex p. J [1999] 1 All ER 184 ......
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