People (Attorney General) v Powell

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 09 February 1945
• Date: 09 February 1945
• Court: Court of Criminal Appeal

Court of Criminal Appeal.

The People (Attorney-General) v. Powell.

THE PEOPLE (at the suit of the Attorney-General)

and

JOHN POWELL (1)

Criminal law - Appeal - Conviction for carnal knowledge - Uncorroborated evidence of prosecutrix - Adequate warning to jury by trial Judge - Power of Court of Criminal Appeal to quash verdict which was unreasonable or not supported by the evidence - Conviction affirmed.

Application for leave to appeal.

The applicant, John Powell, was tried and convicted in the Circuit Court at Limerick on five counts of having carnal knowledge of a girl of sixteen years of age contrary to s. 2, sub-s. 1, of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935.

The trial Judge, Judge Barra O'Briain, refused to grant the applicant a certificate that the case was a fit case for an appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal, and the applicant applied to the Court of Criminal Appeal for leave to appeal.

The facts of the case are, for the purpose of this report, sufficiently set forth in the judgment of the Court.

Applicant was convicted on several counts of having carnal knowledge of a girl of sixteen years of age contrary to s. 2, sub-s. 1, of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935. The only evidence of the acts of carnal knowledge was the uncorroborated evidence of the prosecutrix. The trial Judge warned the jury of the danger of convicting on such evidence, but pointed out to them that they could do so. A certificate for leave to appeal having been refused, the applicant applied to the Court of Criminal Appeal for leave to appeal. On the hearing of this application, the applicant relied on the single ground that the verdict of the...