Choudhury v R

• Jurisdiction: Cayman Islands
• Judge: (Zacca, P., Taylor and Forte, JJ.A.)
• Judgment Date: 22 July 2005
• Court: Court of Appeal (Cayman Islands)
• Date: 22 July 2005

Court of Appeal

(Zacca, P., Taylor and Forte, JJ.A.)

CHOUDHURY

and

R.

Attorneys: John Furniss for the appellant; Government Legal Dept.

Evidence-witnesses-child witness

The appellant was convicted in the Grand Court (Levers, J., sitting without a jury), of indecent assault on three young girls. The Crown sought to prove its case mainly by the evidence of the girls, who all gave unsworn testimony. Although the testimony of one of them as to the circumstances of the act of indecent assault differed materially from that of the other two girls, the Crown made no attempt to reconcile the discrepancy and the judge did not indicate in her reasons that she had accepted one version rather than the other-and in fact indicated that there were no material discrepancies between the different accounts. The appellant appealed against those convictions.

Held: (1) The appeal would be allowed, the convictions quashed, the sentences set aside and verdicts of acquittal entered. There was no indication in the judge”s reasoning that she had been mindful of the accepted legal principle-that the evidence of young girls, particularly when unsworn, must be approached with caution, given that children of tender years are subject to over-imaginativeness, are susceptible to influence by third parties and are generally prone to unreliability-when determining the...