R v Wrigley

The appeal was heard by the Supreme Court of Western Australia, with the appellant contesting the conviction and sentence imposed by a lower court. The appellant, Wrigley, was convicted of unlawfully and indecently assaulting Y, and of unlawfully assaulting Y thereby doing her bodily harm. The offences were committed on 9 January 1993, and Wrigley was not charged until January 1998, five and a half years later. Wrigley sought a permanent stay of prosecution on the grounds that the delay in investigation had deprived him of any chance of a fair trial, but this application was refused by the trial judge and the trial proceeded. Wrigley now appealed against the conviction on the basis that the delay deprived him of a fair trial. The legal issues the court had to decide were whether the delay in bringing the prosecution deprived Wrigley of a fair trial and whether he suffered prejudice resulting from the delay. The court held that the appeal must be dismissed as there was no substantial evidence to support the claim that the delay deprived Wrigley of a fair trial. The complainant's evidence was largely uncontradicted, and there was no evidence to suggest that potential witnesses would have assisted Wrigley. The court found that there were no exceptional circumstances to warrant a permanent stay of prosecution. The court concluded that the delay did not necessarily call for the prosecution to be stayed, and the appeal was dismissed.