Sneddon, Jamie

Jamie Sneddon was convicted in October 2000 of theft and in December 2000 of unlawful wounding. Mr Sneddon received a total sentence of 21 months’ imprisonment.

The CCRC began a review of the convictions in August 2006.

In 2005, Mr Sneddon had unexpectedly found himself in a telephone conversation with the victim of the theft and assault, Mr James. Realising to whom he was talking, Mr Sneddon turned the conversation to the incident in which the offences took place.

Mr James then admitted to perjuring himself in his evidence and also admitted that he had acted aggressively and had used a walking stick as a weapon, something that he had vehemently denied in his evidence at trial.

Mr Sneddon recorded the admissions and took them to the police.

Mr James was subsequently charged with perjury. He pleaded guilty to this charge at Crown Court.

The CCRC concluded that given the extent of Mr James’ lies, he could not be considered capable of belief on any aspect of his evidence.

There was therefore a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would find Mr Sneddon’s conviction for unlawful wounding to be unsafe.

Although the perjury did not have the same direct impact on the theft conviction, the CCRC decided that the resultant lack of credibility made it more likely that the jury would have been prepared to accept the overall account offered by Mr Sneddon.

This created a real possibility that the conviction for theft would also be found unsafe.

The CCRC referred the convictions in October 2008.

The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions in February 2009.