Natalie Darko represented a young Defendant at the Central Criminal Court, which was masterfully defended by Jenni Dempster KC and Joanna Hardy-Susskind at Red Lion Chambers.

This Defendant, accused of Manslaughter, had acquittals directed by the Trial Judge, after the Prosecution conceded on day 6 of Trial, that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.

The case was unusual. The Prosecution alleged that the deceased had sustained a fractured ankle during a fight in the West End of London. It was said that the Defendants had unlawfully participated in that fight. Some 7 weeks later, the injured man died. He had suffered a blood clot from the fracture which resulted in a pulmonary embolism: this was fatal. The Defendants were initially charged with Murder before the Prosecution pursued a count of Manslaughter to trial.

During the Trial, Jenni and Joanna posed out-of-court questions to the Prosecution’s Pathologist as to the timing of the injury. This identified a separate candidate event which may have caused the fracture. This, coupled with developing Expert evidence as to the mechanism of that injury, resulted in the Prosecution being unable to rule out alternative timings of the fracture. Consequently, the Crown were unable to prove causation to the criminal standard.

After very careful consideration, the Prosecution conceded there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction and offered no evidence mid-Trial. The Trial Judge directed the Jury to return Not Guilty verdicts for Manslaughter and the same for the alternative s.20 GBH charge.