Welcome to the October edition of our monthly Criminal Appeals Bulletin.

The Bulletin aims to highlight recent changes in case law and procedure in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Caribbean and Hong Kong (with an occasional series on appeal cases from Scotland) and to provide practical guidance to those advising on appellate matters.  Our monthly case summaries illustrate when an appellate court is likely to interfere with conviction or sentence, as well as looking at the courts’ approach to procedural matters.

The featured article focuses on a current appeal topic.  In this edition, Nichola Higgins considers the case of McGuigan, concerned with the notorious “hooded men” interrogation used in Northern Ireland.

We also look at:

• CACD conviction appeals dealing with the admissibility of blood sample evidence in a s. 3A RTA 1988 prosecution, and the correct constitution of the tribunal in a RAF Court Martial;
• CACD sentencing appeals dealing with the minimum term starting-point for youths convicted of murder and a reiteration of the principles that apply to the lifting of a reporting restriction made under s. 45(3) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
• Hong Kong appeals dealing with Rape and the separate consideration of offences, and the correct framing of the indictment and particulars to be proven by the Prosecution in a conspiracy to defraud.

Farrhat Arshad

DSC Criminal Appeals Unit