Double jeopardy in the UK?

Sean · Banned Joined: Apr 04, 2005 Posts: 3503

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051110/od_nm/britain_jeopardy_dc;_ylt=Am9Wz6WhEiM0H_tn_0iJFKASH9EA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

LONDON (Reuters) - A man cleared of murdering a pizza delivery girl in 1989 could become the first person in Britain to be tried twice for the same crime, the director of public prosecutions said Wednesday.

Billy Dunlop's case will be the first to be affected since the reform of the so-called double jeopardy rule -- which used to stipulate that a person once acquitted could not be tried again for the same offence -- came into force earlier this year.

Julie Hogg disappeared from her home and her body was found by her mother behind a bath panel at her daughter's house 80 days after she went missing.

Dunlop faced a jury twice over Hogg's murder but each time they failed to reach a verdict and he was formally acquitted in 1991.

Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald said he had given consent for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal under a new law because there was "new and compelling evidence."

"I am satisfied the conditions are met and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) should apply to the Court of Appeal for William Dunlop to be re-tried for the murder of Julie Hogg," Macdonald said in a statement.