In the Matter of An Application for Bail BY; Rebecca Massey (No 3)

In the matter of an application for bail by Rebecca Massey, the applicant was seeking bail after being charged with murder. The applicant had previously breached her bail by contacting a prosecution witness, which was a serious matter given the nature of the offence she was charged with. The court had to consider whether to grant bail to the applicant, taking into account the fact that she had breached her bail conditions.

The legal issues that the court had to decide were whether there were special or exceptional circumstances to grant bail to the applicant, and whether the delay in setting the trial date constituted a special or exceptional circumstance. The court also had to consider the risk of the applicant contacting the prosecution witness again and undermining the integrity of the evidence in the murder investigation.

The court found that there were special or exceptional circumstances to grant bail to the applicant, namely the delay in setting the trial date. The court also found that the risk of the applicant contacting the prosecution witness again was not significant enough to outweigh the other factors in favour of granting bail. The court noted that the applicant had not contacted the prosecution witness since the breach, and that there were conditions that could be put in place to mitigate the risk of further contact. The court also found that the applicant had a strong case for her defence, which was another factor in favour of granting bail.

The court granted bail to the applicant on the same conditions as her previous bail, except that the condition requiring her not to threaten, harass, intimidate, or contact directly or indirectly the persons named in the schedule that should accompany her bail undertaking did not include Mr Marshall. The court noted that the applicant had a strong case for her defence, and that the delay in setting the trial date was a significant factor in favour of granting bail. The court also noted that there were conditions that could be put in place to mitigate the risk of further contact with the prosecution witness.