Tevin Leslie & Anor v R

In a joint criminal trial, evidence adduced by one defendant that is prejudicial to another must be strictly relevant to the latter’s case. Once that threshold is met, the court has no common-law discretion to exclude it merely to protect co-defendants from prejudice. The proper safeguards are jury directions and, only as a last resort, severance.

A confession by one accused may be used by a co-accused under section 76A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 unless the statutory unreliability conditions are engaged. Where the confession directly undermines evidence placing a co-accused at the scene, it is relevant to credibility and exclusion may render a conviction unsafe.

Tevin Leslie and Sakeen Gordon were convicted of murdering Vishal Gohel at the Crown Court at St Albans. Leslie had admitted manslaughter and conspiracy to rob but was convicted of murder; Gordon was also convicted of conspiracy to rob.

During the trial, the prosecution obtained notes allegedly written by a co-defendant, Tianna Edwards-Hancock. The judge found the notes genuine, admitted some material as previous inconsistent statements, but excluded passages treated as admissions to the robbery. The appeals concerned whether relevant confession material could be excluded to avoid prejudice to co-defendants, and whether the material was relevant to each appellant’s case.

1. Disposition. Gordon’s appeal against his murder conviction was allowed and that conviction was quashed. Leslie’s appeal was dismissed.

2. Admissibility and statutory exclusion. The court accepted that material seeking to organise a fabricated account could, in context, amount to a confession under section 82 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The statutory exclusionary power in section 76A was not engaged because nobody suggested oppression or circumstances likely to make the confession unreliable.

3. The court followed the approach in R v Lobban [1995] 1 W.L.R 877 and R v Myers [1998] AC 124, which approved the principles stated in R v Neale (1977) 65 Cr. App. R. 304 and Lui Mei Lin v The Queen [1989] AC 288. Evidence prejudicial to a co-defendant must satisfy strict relevance. If it does, there is no common-law discretion to exclude it merely because it causes prejudice. The prejudice must instead be addressed by appropriate jury directions or, as a last resort, severance.

4. R v Musone [2007] EWCA Crim 1237 did not establish a general exclusionary discretion. It concerned an ambush involving a flagrant breach of the Criminal Procedure Rules and could not justify exclusion here, where the appellants had no opportunity to give earlier notice.

5. For Leslie, Edwards-Hancock’s credibility did not affect the issues he raised, which concerned intent and the extent of the force used. The notes therefore did not satisfy strict relevance in his case. For Gordon, however, Edwards-Hancock’s evidence was the only direct evidence placing him in the bedroom. The confession material directly undermined her credibility and was strictly relevant. It was not bad character evidence within section 98 of the Criminal Justice Act 1998, because it concerned the facts of the offence charged.

6. The trial direction was incomplete. If the jury thought Edwards-Hancock probably wrote the notes but were not sure, they could not rely on them against her, but they could still consider that assessment when evaluating evidence she gave against a co-defendant. A defendant bears no burden to prove facts relied upon to the criminal standard. The exclusion of the confession material was therefore an error of law which rendered Gordon’s conviction unsafe. The court directed written submissions on Gordon’s conspiracy conviction and any retrial application.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Gordon’s appeal against his murder conviction was allowed and the conviction was quashed. Leslie’s appeal was dismissed. [2025] EWCA Crim 1045.
• Crown Court at St Albans: On 12 July 2023, Leslie was unanimously convicted and Gordon was convicted by a majority of murdering Vishal Gohel. Gordon was also convicted of conspiracy to rob.