R v VB Reading Magistrates Court

The defendant was charged with battery. The complainant alleged that he was walking with his girlfriend when he was sucker-punched by the defendant, who he claimed to recognise having met him at least 20 times. The defendant’s vehicle was captured on CCTV within 200 meters of the location only minutes beforehand. In his police interview, the defendant denied involvement, and stated he had not seen the complainant for 8 years as he had been in prison. Hennessy and Hammudi argued that the complainant’s identification of the defendant should be excluded because the police had failed to carry out a video identification parade to test the complainant’s ability to recognise the defendant. The ID evidence was excluded, and the defendant was acquitted.