Where post-offence conduct (lies and concealment of a body) is equally consistent with consciousness of guilt of manslaughter as of murder, and there is no other evidence of intent to kill or do grievous bodily harm (no motive to kill, no forensic evidence of a violent or protracted killing, no injuries on the body pointing to deliberate killing), a murder verdict is unreasonable and manslaughter should be substituted. Equivocal circumstantial evidence, while admissible for consideration in the context of the whole case, cannot support a finding of intent for which there is no other evidentiary support.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 59 later cases that cite this judgment.
48 of the 59 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.