Law Weblog

Criminal damage revisited, R v Kelleher [2003] CA

Saturday 6 December 2003 at 9:36 pm | In News | Post Comment

[Criminal damage – lawful excuse – judge must not direct a jury to convict]
D entered an art gallery and decapitated a statue of Baroness Thatcher in protest at her policies which he foresaw were leading the world towards its eventual destruction.  The judge directed the jury to convict because of none of the evidence was disputed and the statutory defence did not engage with D.

Held: A judge is never entitled to direct a jury to return a verdict of guilty.  A defence of lawful excuse was only available where, whatever the defendant’s state of mind, the defendant’s act had been in order to protect his own property or right or interest, or that of anyone else.

The Court examined, once again, the breadth of the defence of “lawful excuse” to a charge of criminal damage. They considered the following cases R v Heyes [1950] and R v Hickey (unreported 30 July 1997). They applied DPP v Stonehouse [1977], R v Gent [1990] and R v Davis [2000]. They doubted R v Hill (1989).

The evidence was overwhelming in any event, so the the conviction was safe.