Layden, Stuart

Stuart Layden was convicted in April 2013 of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 13 years.

He appealed, and in March 2015 the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial under section 7 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968. Section 8 of the same Act states that the arraignment (when the defendant is asked to enter the plea) must take place within two months of the Court of Appeal ordering the re-trial, unless the Court of Appeal gives permission to arraign outside of that period.

Mr Layden was not arraigned but in May 2016 was convicted of murder following the retrial. In 2018 he applied to the CCRC but a decision was issued not to refer his conviction or sentence at that time.

In its judgment in R v Llewellyn [2022] EWCA Crim 154 in February 2022, the Court of Appeal quashed a defendant’s conviction on the basis that the failure to arraign within two months had resulted in the total invalidity of the retrial proceedings before the Crown Court.

The CCRC invited Mr Layden to re-apply and following a review, the case was referred in February 2023 on the basis that, in light of Llewellyn, there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would quash his conviction on the same grounds.

In October 2023, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction but certified a question for the Supreme Court who, in turn, gave the prosecution permission to appeal. The issue for the Supreme Court was whether a failure to comply with the procedural requirements in s.8 deprives the Crown Court of jurisdiction to re-try a defendant.

In April 2025, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision and overruled Llewellyn. The Court concluded that, whilst the requirements in s.8 are mandatory, Parliament could not fairly be taken to have intended that a failure to follow them would result in the total invalidity of the proceedings. This meant Mr Layden’s murder conviction was restored.