The Supreme Court, post-conviction disclosure and ‘fishing expeditions’
| Author | Carole McCartney,Naomi Speechless |
| DOI | 10.1177/1365712715570784 |
| Published date | 01 April 2015 |
| Date | 01 April 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Case Note |
Case Note
The Supreme Court,
post-conviction disclosure
and ‘fishing expeditions’:
R (Nunn) vChief Constable
of Suffolk Constabulary & Anor
[2014] UKSC 37
Carole McCartney
University of Northumbria, Tyne and Wear, UK
Naomi Speechless
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Keywords
Disclosure, evidence, post-conviction, DNA testing
Background
In 2006, Kevin Nunn was convicted of the murder of Dawn Walker, his former girlfriend. Her burnt body
was found by the River Lark on 4 February 2005. A witness, PD, claimed to have seen two men removing a
heavy-looking object from the victim’s house, and identified Nunn as one of these men. Nunn argued that
LM, another of the victim’s former boyfriends, was the true perpetrator. LM had previously described how
to commit a ‘perfect’ murder to PD, a crime which bore notable similarities to Walker’s killing. However,
LM had an alibi provided by his new girlfriend. Forensic analysis of the scene did not recover any physical
evidence that linked to a suspect and while four sperm cells were found on the victim, these did not yield
any DNA profiles. Further, the sperm could have been a result of secondary transfer from a towel or other
means (Walker had recently used a male changing room at a sports centre). The sperm cells, however, were
retained for possible further testing if technology were to advance.
Nunn was refused leave to appeal his conviction in 2007 on the basis that there were no arguable
grounds that could render the conviction unsafe.
1
Nunn subsequently sought to make an application
to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). They approached a former Forensic Science
Corresponding author:
Carole McCartney, University of Northumbria, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Email: carole.mccartney@northumbria.ac.uk
1. [2007] EWCA Crim 2663.
The International Journalof
Evidence & Proof
2015, Vol. 19(2) 120–126
ªThe Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/1365712715570784
epj.sagepub.com
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