Conor Quinn led by Sam Green K.C. have succeeded in persuading the Court of Appeal that the trial judge erred in rejecting their half time submission and that her summing up was tainted by too broad an interpretation of the statute.
The case involved an allegation of causing or allowing a vulnerable adult to suffer serious physical harm contrary to section 5 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. The focus of the appeal was upon the construction of section 5(1). In rejecting the Prosecution’s interpretation of the section, Lady Justice Macur agreed with the Appellant’s submission that the manner in which the prosecution invited section 5(1) to be interpreted rendered section 5(1)(d)(iii) otiose. That subsection restricts liability to those who ought to have foreseen the kind of circumstances in which the act that caused the serious injury occurred. The issue therefore was what was meant by “circumstances of the kind”. The Court of Appeal found that the Prosecution’s broad interpretation of the section, which had been adopted by the trial judge, was an error, and as a result, they allowed the appeal.
https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/crim/2025/38