R v El

In this case, the appellant was convicted of two counts of having carnal knowledge of his daughter, offences which occurred over forty years prior to the trial. The complainant testified that the appellant had sexual intercourse with her on multiple occasions when she was 15 and 16 years old. The court had to determine whether the verdicts of guilty were open to the jury given the evidence presented. The court also had to consider the admissibility of certain documents regarding the complainant's prior sexual conduct, and whether the appellant's trial counsel's decision not to call such evidence resulted in a miscarriage of justice. Furthermore, the court examined whether the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive, particularly in light of the appellant's age and the absence of any other criminal history.

The court found that the verdicts of guilty were open to the jury, and rejected the argument that the verdicts were unreasonable. The court held that the evidence, including the complainant's testimony, supported the verdicts. The court also found that the appellant's trial counsel had a wide discretion in deciding what evidence to call, and there was no miscarriage of justice in the decision not to call evidence about the complainant's prior sexual experience. As for the sentence, the court found that the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive, and that the trial judge had not adequately considered the appellant's age and absence of criminal history. The court held that the sentence should have been more lenient, taking into account these factors.

The court ordered that the appeal against the convictions be dismissed, but granted leave to appeal the sentence on each count. The court allowed the appeal against sentence on each count and ordered that the appellant be sentenced to a term of five years' imprisonment on each count, to be suspended after two and a half years with an operational period of five years. The court also ordered that a conviction be recorded for each offence and that it be declared to be a conviction for a domestic violence offence.