Woolmington v DPP [1935] UKHL 1 (23 May 1935)
Woolmington v DPP [1935] UKHL 1 is a judgment from United Kingdom on 23 May 1935. Cite it as [1935] UKHL 1. Search it by the party names, the citation [1935] UKHL 1, or United Kingdom judgment.
united-kingdom
May 23, 1935
UNITED KINGDOM
Woolmington
v.
DPP [1935] UKHL 1
[1935] UKHL 1
Proceeding. Judgment. United Kingdom.
Held. Throughout the web of the English criminal law one golden thread is always to be seen: it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner's guilt, subject only to the defence of insanity and any statutory exception.
WOOLMINGTON v DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS [1935] UKHL 1; [1935] AC 462 House of Lords 23 May 1935
Judges: Viscount Sankey LC, Lord Hewart LCJ, Lord Atkin, Lord Tomlin, Lord Wright
Facts
Reginald Woolmington was charged with the murder of his wife. He said the gun went off by accident while he was threatening to shoot himself to persuade her to return to him. The trial judge directed the jury that once the prosecution proved the killing, the burden shifted to the accused to prove that it was an accident. Woolmington was and sentenced to death. The Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the conviction. He appealed to the House of Lords.
Held
The House of Lords allowed the appeal and quashed the conviction. Viscount Sankey LC held that the trial judge's direction was wrong. The prosecution must prove the prisoner's guilt . The burden does not shift to the accused merely because the killing is proved. The only exceptions are the defence of insanity and any statutory exception.
Key Principles
1. The golden thread: "Throughout the web of the English Criminal Law one golden thread is always to be seen, that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner's guilt subject to what I have already said as to the defence of insanity and subject also to any statutory exception."
2. If, at the end of the case, there is a reasonable doubt created by the evidence of either the prosecution or the prisoner, the prosecution has not made out the case and the prisoner is entitled to an .
3. The presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of the common law.
4. The case is the leading authority on the in criminal trials across the common-law world.
Why It Matters in Sierra Leone
Woolmington is persuasive authority in every Sierra Leone criminal court on the burden and standard of proof. The golden-thread principle is applied in murder, manslaughter and other serious offences. It is taught in criminal procedure and evidence, and is cited whenever the prosecution seeks to shift the burden to the accused.