Willett, R v

Improper police handling of witnesses does not require exclusion under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s 78 where there is no bad faith and cross-examination and judicial directions can fairly address any resulting concern. A possible error in granting witness anonymity will not render a conviction unsafe unless it adversely affects trial fairness.

Previous misconduct may be admissible under Criminal Justice Act 2003, s 101(1)(d), where it is relevant to the defendant’s state of mind on a matter in issue. Sentencing for manslaughter is fact-sensitive. A participant who was a passenger, rather than the driver controlling the vehicle, may have materially lower culpability.

Following a retrial at the Crown Court at Woolwich, Tommy Willett was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter arising from the fatal running-over of a man who had tried to prevent the escape of Willett and his brother after an attempted vehicle theft. Willett was a passenger; his brother drove the car. He received 16 years’ imprisonment.

The appellant challenged the admission of evidence from two witnesses after police contact before the retrial, the anonymity order for one witness, the admission of a 2002 aggravated vehicle-taking conviction, and the refusal of a submission of no case to answer. He also appealed his sentence. The central issues were trial fairness, the relevance of the previous conviction to knowledge of dangerous driving, and the appellant’s lesser culpability as a passenger.

1. The appeal against conviction was dismissed. The appeal against sentence was allowed. The court quashed the 16-year sentence and substituted 14 years’ imprisonment.
2. The judge properly refused to exclude the evidence of Nicola Nolan and witness B under s 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Police handling had been inappropriate, particularly in explaining why a retrial was necessary, but there was no finding of bad faith. The process did not amount to witness coaching, nor did it inevitably taint the evidence or compromise fairness. Any departure from the witnesses’ earlier accounts could be tested by cross-examination and addressed by directions.
3. The judge was right that the statutory requirements concerning fair trial and the importance of witness B’s testimony were met. The court was doubtful whether the safety-necessity condition was satisfied, because the appellant was likely already to know the identity of his former cell-mate. Even if the anonymity order was erroneous, however, the directions on anonymity, screens and voice modulation prevented prejudice and did not affect the safety of the conviction. The statutory approach was consistent with the guidance in R v Mayers and Others [2009] 1 Cr App R 30.
4. The 2002 conviction was properly admitted under s 101(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Although the appellant had then been the driver and the incident was four years earlier, he and his brother had jointly driven dangerously to evade capture. It was capable of bearing on what the appellant knew his brother might do when escaping on the later occasion.
5. The evidence of Nicola Nolan was not so unreliable that a properly directed jury could not safely convict upon it. The issues concerning police contact, alleged coaching and credibility were for the jury. The judge therefore correctly rejected the submission of no case to answer.
6. The manslaughter was exceptionally serious and warranted a long sentence. Nevertheless, the appellant’s role as passenger involved lower culpability than that of the driver with actual control of the vehicle. A sentence exceeding 14 years was not justified.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — In [2011] EWCA Crim 2710, the court dismissed the appeal against the retrial conviction for manslaughter but allowed the appeal against sentence, reducing it from 16 to 14 years’ imprisonment.
• Crown Court at Woolwich — At a retrial before HHJ Byers and a jury, Willett was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment.
• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — On 13 July 2010, the court quashed Willett’s original murder conviction; on 30 July 2010 it ordered a retrial.
• Central Criminal Court — In 2008, Willett was convicted of murder at his first trial.