A Crown Prosecutor who calls witnesses in the Crown case must not assert in closing address that those witnesses were untruthful or conspiring without having cross-examined them or obtained leave under s 38 of the Evidence Act 1995 to do so. Where such improper assertions are made, the trial judge must direct the jury in unequivocal terms to disregard them; directions that merely seek to reduce the impact while keeping the assertions alive are insufficient. Where a trial miscarries due to Crown Prosecutor misconduct, this is a factor weighing against ordering a new trial, particularly where the Crown case was not of overwhelming strength.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 21 later cases that cite this judgment.
6 of the 21 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.