[2001] EWCA Crim 224

An admission made on a fact relied upon by the Crown could not be the subject of a direction under s.34 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 because a bare admission could not be said to be the assertion of a fact. A direction that left the jury at liberty to draw an adverse inference for a fact not mentioned in interview, notwithstanding that it might have been satisfied about the plausibility of the explanation, amounted to a breach of Art.6(1) European Convention on Human Rights.

CA (Crim Div) (Kay LJ, Penry-Davey J, Judge Advocate General)

09/02/2001