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New and compelling evidence needed for retrial

Tuesday 30 November 2010 at 6:57 am | In News | Post Comment

CPS Southampton v Whittle CA (2010)
[Criminal law- Murder – retrial]
D, who had been acquitted of murder, years later, in a drunken stupor, walked into a police station and purportedly confessed.

Held: The material relied upon did not provide evidence of substantial or probative value to comply with the statutory requirements for a retrial under s 76 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The case was distinguished from R v Dunlop [2007] 1 All ER 593 which had involved a carefully structured statement of a confession and where the confession was resoundingly supported by the accused person’s own admission that he was guilty of perjury.

The application by the Crown for a retrial was refused.