ON APPEAL FROM THE CROWN COURT AT BRISTOL
HIS HONOUR JUDGE LAMBERT
Ind No T20217020
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MRS JUSTICE STACEY
and
HER HONOUR JUDGE DHIR KC
(sitting as a Judge of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
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ABDULQANI HAMDAN |
Appellant |
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- and - |
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THE KING |
Respondent |
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Ben Douglas-Jones KC (instructed by Crown Prosecution Service) for the Crown
Hearing date: 19 October 2023
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Crown Copyright ©
LADY JUSTICE ANDREWS:
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
THE IRREGULARITY AT THE RETRIAL
"I heard the defendant talking English on the phone when I left the courthouse last night. Should I declare this?"
That was a perfectly proper question for the juror to have asked. He was right to have raised the matter with the judge.
THE JUDGE'S RULING
"An application is now made to discharge the jury in this stale case where the Defendant already has the benefit of an inaccurate representation as to his character, which I won't undermine. It's said that because there may be a conflict on a peripheral, immaterial matter, the jury cannot properly proceed with one of them perhaps being biased against the Defendant".
COUNSEL'S SUBMISSIONS
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION