Williams (Gladstone) was a case heard in the English Court of Appeal in 1983 and established that a mistake of fact can be a successful defence regardless of whether the belief is reasonable or not.
The defendant saw a youth being dragged along the street by the victim while the youth shouted for help. The victim had seen the youth mug a lady, and had grabbed the youth. The defendant intervened, believing that the young boy was being assaulted. The victim claimed to be a policeman, which was not true, and could not produce a warrant card when asked. A fight followed, and the victim "sustained injuries to his face, loosened teeth and bleeding gums". At the trial the jury were told that mistake can only be a defence if the mistake was reasonable. The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
Judgmentedit
On appeal, Lord Lane gave the leading judgement and stated that:
The reasonableness or unreasonableness of the defendant's belief is material to the question of whether the belief was held by the defendant at all. If the belief was in fact held, its unreasonableness, so far as guilt or innocence is concerned, is neither here nor there. It is irrelevant."
williams, williams, gladstone, case, heard, english, court, appeal, 1983, established, that, mistake, fact, successful, defence, regardless, whether, belief, reasonable, williams, gladstone, 1987, courtcourt, appeal, criminal, division, full, case, name, glads. Williams Gladstone was a case heard in the English Court of Appeal in 1983 and established that a mistake of fact can be a successful defence regardless of whether the belief is reasonable or not Williams Gladstone 1987 CourtCourt of Appeal Criminal Division Full case nameR v Williams Gladstone Decided28 November 1983Citation s 1987 3 All ER 411 1987 78 Cr App R 276Case opinionsLord Lane Justice Skinner and Mr Justice McCowanKeywordsMistake of Fact Reasonableness Contents 1 Facts 2 Judgment 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksFacts editThe defendant saw a youth being dragged along the street by the victim while the youth shouted for help The victim had seen the youth mug a lady and had grabbed the youth The defendant intervened believing that the young boy was being assaulted The victim claimed to be a policeman which was not true and could not produce a warrant card when asked A fight followed and the victim sustained injuries to his face loosened teeth and bleeding gums At the trial the jury were told that mistake can only be a defence if the mistake was reasonable The jury returned a verdict of guilty Judgment editOn appeal Lord Lane gave the leading judgement and stated that The reasonableness or unreasonableness of the defendant s belief is material to the question of whether the belief was held by the defendant at all If the belief was in fact held its unreasonableness so far as guilt or innocence is concerned is neither here nor there It is irrelevant See also editBeckford v R 1987 3 All ER 425 Privy Council DPP v Morgan 1975 2 All ER 411 B v DPP 2000 1 All ER 823 O Grady 1987 3 All ER 420References editExternal links editBAILII Official transcript Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title R v Williams amp oldid 1149394709, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
