SAUNDERS v. UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
7
were not obtained in consequence of anything said or done which was likely
to render them unreliable in all the circumstances existing at the time.
29. From 22 to 24 January 1990 the court held a further voir dire
following the application of the applicant to rule inadmissible the DTI
transcripts concerning the eighth and ninth interviews on the basis that they
should be excluded either as unreliable under section 76 of PACE or
pursuant to section 78 of PACE because of the adverse effect the admission
of the evidence would have on the fairness of the proceedings having regard
to the circumstances in which it was obtained. Reliance was placed on the
applicant’s alleged ill-health at the time and on the fact that the two
interviews in question had taken place after the applicant had been charged.
In his ruling of 29 January 1990 Mr Justice Henry rejected the defence
argument as to the applicant’s medical condition. He did, however, exercise
his discretion pursuant to section 78 to exclude the evidence from the two
above-mentioned interviews which had taken place after the applicant had
been charged on the grounds that his attendance could not be said to be
voluntary. In his view, moreover, it could not be said to be fair to use
material obtained by compulsory interrogation after the commencement of
the accusatorial process.
1. The applicant’s trial
30. The applicant was tried together with three co-defendants. The trial
involved seventy-five days of evidence, ten days of speeches by counsel and
a five-day summing-up to the jury by the trial judge. The applicant faced
fifteen counts including, inter alia, eight counts of false accounting contrary
to section 17 (1) b of the Theft Act 1968 and two counts of theft and several
counts of conspiracy.
In the course of his trial the applicant, who was the only accused to give
evidence (days 63-82) - after the reading of the transcripts (see paragraph 31
below) - testified that he knew nothing about the giving of indemnities or
the paying of success fees and that he had not been consulted on such
matters. He asserted that he had been guilty of no wrongdoing. The Crown
relied heavily on the evidence of Mr Roux (Guinness’s finance director)
who had been granted immunity from prosecution. It also referred to the
statements made by the applicant in the course of interviews to the DTI
inspectors.
31. The transcripts of the interviews were read to the jury by the
prosecution over a three-day period during the trial (days 45-47). They were
used in order to establish the state of the applicant’s knowledge and to
refute evidence given by the applicant to the jury.
For example, counsel for the prosecution used passages from the
interviews to demonstrate that Mr Saunders had been aware, inter alia, of
the payment to Mr W., who had been allegedly involved in the
share-support operation, of more than £5 million, before the inspectors had