Description
Criminal Appeal Against Conviction:- On 11 January 2007 the appellant was convicted on indictment after trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court of a contravention of section 4(3)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 relating to the distribution of diamorphine in the Peterhead area. The apellant was sentenced to two years imprisonment. Three grounds of appeal were argued, albeit interrupted by the appellant withdrawng his instructions from counsel during the course of the appeal hearing. The grounds of appeal were:- (1) that there had been an infringement of section 99(2)(b) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 in that a juror had left the jury room for a purpose other than one authorised by that subsection and words had passed between the sheriff clerk and the juror with no written record of what had been said between the two; (2) the Crown had failed to lead any expert witness evidence in relation to the identification of the drug as diamorphine; and (3) the verdict reached was unreasonable. Here the court considered whether there was a breach of section 99(2)(b) and, if so, whether it led to a miscarriage of justice. Further, the court considered whether there was a sufficiency of evidence to allow the jury to convict the appellant in particular given the absence of expert evidence and the reliance placed by the Crown on lay testimony identifying the heroin.
0141 553 4890
