Recent Judicial Decisions
| Author | David Wicks,Damian Carney |
| Published date | 01 June 2012 |
| Date | 01 June 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1350/pojo.2012.85.2.590 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Judicial Decisions |
DAVID WICKS
Legal Correspondent
Email: dcw@3pumpcourt.com
DAMIAN CARNEY
Legal Correspondent
Email: Damian.Carney@port.ac.uk
RECENT JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Compellability of a spouse where the offence may not be a
‘specified offence’
R v BA [2012] EWCA Crim 1529
Court of Appeal
Thomas LJ (President of the Queen’s Bench Division),
Collins and Singh JJ
11 July 2012
This was an appeal by the prosecution under s. 58 of the
Criminal Justice Act 2003 against the terminating ruling by
Recorder Marrin QC sitting at Blackfriars Crown Court. The
sole issue on the appeal was the ambit of s. 80 of the Police
and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (‘PACE’), which specifies
the circumstances in which a wife may be compelled to give
evidence against her husband.
Keywords: witness; competence; compellability; spouse;
Police and Criminal Evidence Act, s. 80; Criminal Justice
Act 2003, s. 58; appeal; prosecutor
The facts
The defendant (‘D’) and his wife (‘W’) had been married for 15
years and had three children. There was a history of domestic
violence. The prosecution alleged that on 7 June 2011, during the
course of an argument between D and W, D had threatened to
burn down the house with the children in it. He turned on the gas
hob and oven in the kitchen and left the house. He was
subsequently charged with one count of threatening to destroy or
damage property, contrary to s. 2(a) of the Criminal Damage Act
1971. At D’s trial, W refused to give evidence voluntarily. The
prosecution asked the trial judge to rule whether W was a
compellable witness under s. 80 of PACE as amended. The judge
ruled that she was not, on the grounds that the offence with
which D had been charged was not a ‘specified offence’ within
The Police Journal, Volume 85 (2012) 169
DOI: 10.1350/pojo.2012.85.2.590
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