R v Patel (No 2)

In the case of R v Patel (No 2), the applicant faced a retrial on a charge of manslaughter. The dispute centred around an application to the court for an order that a count on the indictment be permanently stayed or, in the alternative, that the further amended particulars of that count be struck out. The applicant argued that a further prosecution was contrary to the public interest, citing the degree of adverse pre-trial publicity as making a fair trial impossible. Additionally, the applicant contended that the Crown intended to make a new case on the retrial and that the amended particulars failed to particularise the charge.

The court was required to determine several legal issues, including whether the further prosecution of the case was contrary to the public interest, whether a fair trial was impossible due to pre-trial publicity, and whether the Crown intended to make a new case on the retrial. The court also needed to assess whether the amended particulars of the charge adequately particularised the offence.

The court dismissed the application for a stay of proceedings, finding that there was no basis to conclude that a fair trial was impossible. It was held that the applicant had not demonstrated that the Crown intended to make a new case on the retrial, nor that the amended particulars failed to particularise the charge. The court ordered that the particulars of the charge filed on 5 December 2012 be struck out and directed the Crown to file and serve on the accused proper particulars of the charge on or before 11 January 2013. The court did not find that the further prosecution of the case was contrary to the public interest, and therefore, the application for a stay of proceedings was dismissed.