Judgment has now been published in the appeal of R v Nazir Ahmed [2024] EWCA Crim 1372, in which Tom Wainwright persuaded the Court of Appeal to quash convictions for serious historic offences, having been instructed by the Registrar at the appeal stage.
The successful grounds of appeal were that, on a detailed analysis of the case and in light of a number of pieces of fresh evidence, trial counsel had been wrongly prevented from cross-examining the complainant about a previous allegation, and an application to adduce the complainant’s bad character had been wrongly refused.
The unusual and difficult aspect of the appeal was that the fresh evidence relied upon had been available to previous counsel, but the points arising from them had either been overlooked, abandoned or poorly argued. The Court of Appeal held in this case that trial counsel’s incompetence in failing to properly deploy the material should not prevent them from receiving this evidence, and they went on to allow the appeal, based on Tom’s legal and evidential submissions as to its relevance and impact.
A re-trial was ordered and the defendant released on bail.
Tom Wainwright of the Garden Court Crime Team was instructed by Natalie Berman and Elliott Kimber of Edward Fail, Bradshaw & Waterson Solicitors for the subsequent proceedings, which concluded earlier this year, with the prosecution offering no evidence.
The Court of Appeal’s judgment, which was subject to reporting restrictions while proceedings were ongoing, is now available: Ahmed, R. v [2024] EWCA Crim 1372
