R v Betson & Ors
February 2003
Raymond Betson and Willliam Cockran, members of the £200m Millennium Dome attempted diamond robbery were denied leave to appeal by the Court of Appeal (Rose LJ, Poole J and Davis J), despite the admission of the trial judge, Judge Michael Coombe that he 'nodded off' during counsel submission. The judge however denied that he was snoring audibly.
The three months trial ended in February 2002 was apparently too much for Judge Coombe, who is 73 and retired after that.
Edmund Romilly, for Betson, submitted that anyone could be forgiven for “momentary lapses of concentration, but it is another matter if there is sleepfulness accompanied by noises associated with sleep, drawing attention to the person who is asleep and deflecting the jury's attention”.
Donna Murphy, a solicitor clerk, observed that the judge was not the only slumbering consciousness in the court. She observed that “on one occasion a juror dozed off. I looked over to the judge to see if he had noticed. Unfortunately he hadn't, as he was asleep himself.”
A witness from the TV, Tamsen Vian-Courtenay, said that the judge's head was lolling so far forward as to “almost in contact with the desk”.
On the other hand, the judge was apparently more energetic on other occasions. One of the grounds of appeal alleged that he made “excessive interventions” when witnesses and defendants gave evidence!
Rose LJ, said that Judge Coombe frankly admitted he was asleep but the question was whether it was arguable that, in consequence, these convictions were unsafe.
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