Insufficient Evidence

Charges of theft, assault and unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle dismissed

Tony Beach’s client was charged with theft from a person, assault and unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle. At the judge-alone trial, the judge dismissed the charge of unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle as the police had failed to summons their civilian witness in sufficient time for the hearing; the police conceded that they had insufficient evidence to proceed with the theft charge, which was then dismissed; Tony Beach then applied for the assault charge to be dismissed under s147 of the Criminal Procedure Act as there was insufficient evidence of identity of the defendant on which a judge could find beyond reasonable doubt that he had committed the assault. The judge agreed and dismissed that charge as well.