R v HBJ

The appellant, HBJ, appealed against his conviction of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child under 16 years, being his daughter. The appeal against conviction was based on the contention that the verdict was unreasonable or not supported by the evidence. The appellant also raised issues about alleged misdirections and non-directions by the trial judge, irregularities in relation to the jury, and potential miscarriages of justice.

The court considered whether the trial judge's directions about the offence of maintaining were adequate and whether the judge should have instructed the jury about the nature of acts that would constitute an unlawful sexual act. The court also considered whether the appellant's argument about the unreliability of the complainant's evidence was valid. The court concluded that the trial judge's directions were sufficient and that the appellant's argument about the unreliability of the complainant's evidence was not persuasive.

The court further considered whether allowing the recordings of the complainant's police interviews and pre-recorded evidence to be available to the jury in the jury room amounted to an irregularity or a miscarriage of justice. The court held that there was no irregularity and that the appellant's argument about a miscarriage of justice was not made out. The court also held that the trial judge's remarks in summing up did not amount to a miscarriage of justice. The appeal against conviction was dismissed.

The final orders of the court were that the appeal against conviction was dismissed.