GT Stewart today secured the acquittal of DH who appeared at the Central Criminal Court charged with one count of robbery.
It was alleged DH approached the complainant, snatched her bag and fled. The incident was captured on CCTV however it was of poor quality. DH was then subsequently positively identified by the complainant and her friend.
DH had always strongly denied the allegation on the basis he had been mistakenly identified. GTS requested the filmed footage of the witness identifications by way of the defence statement. The CPS initially refused to serve the footage, however eventually conceded. Once the footage was viewed, it was clear the identification parade was unfair and flawed; when all nine suspects were viewed together, DH stood out as he was sitting in front of a bright white background, whereas the remaining eight suspects were sitting in front of a green background. It was the view of GTS that this amounted to a breach of Code D of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), and therefore an application to exclude the identification evidence subject to section 78 PACE was submitted.
The submission of the section 78 application lead to the CPS reviewing the case against DH, and to no evidence being offered on the basis there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. Thereafter the Judge returned a formal verdict of not guilty.
DH was represented by Kevin Williams at the City of London office, and by Ravinder Saimbhi of 33 Bedford Row Chambers at trial.
