GT Stewart Solicitors represented a client who was charged with taking items from a store and leaving without making payment at Leeds Magistrates’ Court. P was identified by a security officer as the person responsible for the theft but P was not interviewed by the police and she was not asked to take part in an ID parade.

We highlighted at an early stage in the Court proceedings that P disputed she had been correctly identified in this case and had been denied the opportunity to participate in a parade because the identification evidence was neither compelling nor untainted. We further argued, by way of a skeleton argument, that an ID parade is a fundamental safeguard against mistaken identification and that depriving P of this safeguard would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of proceeds that it ought not be admitted (R v Turnbull). The Court agreed with our argument and excluded all of the identification evidence in the case. Without any identification evidence, the Crown decided to offer no evidence against our client. A not guilty verdict was recorded and our client was acquitted.

P was represented by Philip Mahoney of our Leeds crime team and Ed Youlton at trial. If you need expert legal assistance, please contact our Leeds Office on 0113 222 4888