A trial judge is not required to give a dangerous or unreliable witness direction regarding a drug-affected complainant where no expert evidence has been led as to the effect of drugs on the witness's perception or memory, and where defence counsel has deliberately chosen not to highlight drug effects as part of a forensic strategy. The question of appropriate directions to the jury regarding a potentially dangerous witness is one for the trial judge to determine, not counsel, although counsel's views are to be taken into account; opposition by defence counsel to a Faure direction is not determinative. The distinction between the mandatory nature of accomplice warnings and the discretionary nature of Faure dangerous witness warnings was left open.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 5 later cases that cite this judgment.