Molly Dyas successful in the Court of Appeal 

Molly Dyas successfully persuaded the Court of Appeal that M’s conviction for supplying a kilogram of heroin was unsafe and that M’s conviction should be quashed.

Molly submitted that the trial Judge had improperly repeatedly intervened during the prosecution’s cross-examination of her client. She argued that the Judge’s questioning had conveyed the clear impression to the jury that he was sceptical of M’s account and suggested that that he was taking the prosecution’s side. 

Holroyde LJ, the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) handed down Judgment. The Court found that the trial Judge’s questions did go beyond being clarificatory and took the form of testing M’s account. The Court determined that this rendered M’s conviction unsafe because M’s defence had been “significantly weakened by the inappropriate interventions”.

Molly successfully secured bail for M pending his retrial,  in the face of firm prosecution objections.   Molly was instructed by Paul Cameron of Bark & Co solicitors and assisted by Marcia Lawrence at the Appeal hearing.