Regina v G W B [2000] NSWCCA 410

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION : Regina v G W B [2000] NSWCCA 410 FILE NUMBER(S) : CCA 60643/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 13 June 2000 JUDGMENT DATE : 13 October 2000

PARTIES : The Crown G W B (Appl) JUDGMENT OF : Spigelman CJ at 1; Newman J at 2; Adams J at 48

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : District Court LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 98/41/0321 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL J B Phelan DCJ OFFICER :

COUNSEL : C K Maxwell QC (Crown) J I Doris (Appl) SOLICITORS : S E O'Connor (Crown) Hansons (Appl) CATCHWORDS : CRIMINAL LAW - appeal - verdict - whether unsafe or unsatisfactory - Criminal Appeal Act s 61 - burden of proof - guilt beyond reasonable doubt - undesirability of departing from or explaining conventional formula Jones v R (1997) 191 CLR 439 M v R (1994) 181 CLR 487 CASES CITED: Green v R [1971] 126 CLR 28 Dawson v The Queen (1961) 106 CLR 1 Thomas v The Queen (1960) 102 CLR 584 Brown v The King (1913) 17 CLR 570 DECISION : 1. Appeal upheld; 2.Conviction quashed; 3. A verdict of acquittal entered

IN THE COURT OF

CRIMINAL APPEAL

60643/99 SPIGELMAN CJ NEWMAN J ADAMS J

FRIDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2000

REGINA v G W B

JUDGMENT

1 SPIGELMAN CJ: I agree with Newman J.

2 NEWMAN J: This is an appeal against a conviction of carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of ten years. 3 The appellant had been indicted before the District Court at Wollongong on four counts of carnal knowledge of a girl under ten years and one count of carnal knowledge of a girl over ten years. 4 The jury found the appellant not guilty in relation to counts one, two, three and five but found him guilty on count four. The appellant had pleaded not guilty to each count. The five offences were said to have taken place between 1 January 1977 and 31 December 1983.