A prosecutor's submission that an accused's prior suicide attempt (unrelated to the charged offence) demonstrates disregard for human life and therefore murderous intent is illogical, unfair, and encourages an impermissible path of reasoning. Such submissions, if not corrected by the trial judge, may cause a miscarriage of justice requiring a retrial, particularly where the case is not overwhelming. Evidence of prior suicide attempts is relevant to intent only where the attempt is closely related and interconnected with the charged offence.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 6 later cases that cite this judgment.
5 of the 6 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.