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Article: Juries to be told of a defendant's criminal history.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- October 26, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: JAMES CHAPMAN
DAVID Blunkett was facing another row with the judiciary last night over plans to allow defendants' previous convictions to be revealed to juries.
The Home Secretary's reforms, due to come into force in six weeks' time, will mean criminal records being disclosed as a matter of course during trials.
In most cases, convictions will only be made known if they are similar to the current charge.
However, in child sex and theft trials, judges will be able to order that a much broader range of previous offences are revealed to the jury. In exceptional cases, they will even be told if a defendant has been acquitted of a ...