An accused's positive statement to police of no recollection of events, as distinct from mere silence or failure to mention a matter, is capable of constituting evidence of consciousness of guilt and may warrant an Edwards direction even where the Crown does not rely on it as such. Trial judges have a broad discretion in assessing whether the risk of jury misuse warrants a full Edwards direction rather than a Zoneff direction, and appellate courts should be slow to contradict that assessment.
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