Featherstone v The Queen; Bloxsome v The Queen

Featherstone and Bloxsome appealed their convictions to the Court of Criminal Appeal of New South Wales. The appeals concerned allegations of unsafe and unsatisfactory verdicts, the unreliability of witnesses, and the occurrence of a miscarriage of justice. The appellants also raised issues regarding pleas in bar, applications for separate trials, and applications to discharge the jury.

The Court was required to determine whether the verdicts returned by the jury were unsafe and unsatisfactory, particularly in light of concerns about witness reliability. Further, the Court had to consider whether the trial judge erred in refusing applications for separate trials and in refusing to discharge the jury, and whether these decisions, or other aspects of the trial, resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The Court also considered the appeal against Bloxsome's sentence.

The Court found that the verdicts on Counts 8 and 10 were unsafe and unsatisfactory, quashing the convictions on those counts. However, the Court dismissed the remaining grounds of appeal relating to the other convictions. The decision on Bloxsome's sentence appeal was reserved.