Summary
THE judges went on: "It is not the fact that the codes were breached that is important; it is the reality of what occurred or may have occurred. It is for the respondents to satisfy us so that we are sure that the confessions by Hall and the admissions by O'Brien of having been to Anstee Court were not obtained in consequence of anything said or done which was likely in the circumstances existing at the time to render unreliable that confession, see s. 76(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, 1984. The appellants were interviewed without their solicitors being present. The exact whereabouts of the appellants prior to several of the important interviews are unknown because those whereabouts were not recorded. Implementation of the codes not only protects detainees it also assists the police in that, where admissions are made, it becomes highly unlikely that those admissions will not be given in evidence and accepted by the jury and the court or that such admissions could be undermined on appeal.
"In reaching these conclusions we are not making any findings of deliberate misconduct against any police officer, nor could we do so, not being a court which makes findings of fact. Even were we to be a fact finding court, we could not make any such finding in the absence of hearing any evidence from those detained and interviewed or from the police officers involved in the interviewing process."See the full content of this document
Extract
The Death of Justice ; Morning Serial
They explained their role as an appeal court: "Thi...
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