Murdered Twice? in UK law

[silverfoxcc]

watching a film on TPTV last night

A's wife going out with b
A challenges B and chases him out of pub

B climbs a dockyard crane but falls in to water
Later body found but not positively indentiified as B


On being arrested, in police car to station he is sure he sees B
A tried and convicted, death sentence reduce to manslaughter

On release A tracks down B

A takes him to the home of the prosecution lawyer and says that he could not have killed him as here he is ,but in the eyes of the law. B is legally dead

He then shoots B and asks the lawyer what he is going to do about it as. He has already been convicted of killing B and how in the eyes of the law, how can he have lkilled a dead man


At the time of the film (1945) iirc a person could not be tried twice for the same crime following a conviction

Q. could this have been the case back then I think the law has now changed, and is it possible that he could not be tried a second time for actually killing the gut when he was previously found guilty even no positive proof of B being dead

Aplogies for slight ramble!!

[Green1man]

Film remade as ‘Double Jeopardy’. In 90s with Ashley Judd (I think), discussions in that film of the legal situation. I’ve no idea how the law in the uk would work in this case

[PrinceRupert]

Surely the initial conviction would be quashed as unsafe, A is prosecuted for murder, and in sentencing the time spent behind bars for the unsafe conviction is taken into account?

[trashbat]

That's not actually what double jeopardy is, and it's not the same crime.

[bigandclever]

Not that it especially matters but OP is talking about the film ‘Murder in reverse’.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_in_Reverse

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Suppose I wanted to murder someone. At the time I'm going to commit the murder, I get a friend to drive my car thru a speed camera well above the limit. NIP arrives and I plead guilty, get 3 points and £100 fine. When the police come to question me about the murder, I've already been found guilty of an offence at the same time elsewhere. So I'm in the clear! They can't charge me with a crime in one place when they've already found me guilty of a crime in a different place.

Is it the perfect murder, or am I talking crap. I'm guessing it's the latter!

[Bozwell]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Suppose I wanted to murder someone. At the time I'm going to commit the murder, I get a friend to drive my car thru a speed camera well above the limit. NIP arrives and I plead guilty, get 3 points and £100 fine. When the police come to question me about the murder, I've already been found guilty of an offence at the same time elsewhere. So I'm in the clear! They can't charge me with a crime in one place when they've already found me guilty of a crime in a different place.

Is it the perfect murder, or am I talking crap. I'm guessing it's the latter!

Columbo will see through it.

Edited by Bozwell on Sunday 9th October 20:16

[Draxindustries1]

^
So would Dixon of Dock Green..

[OutInTheShed]

trashbat said:

That's not actually what double jeopardy is, and it's not the same crime.

As I undrstood it, 'the 'same crime' means same action, same time, same place. So if you're tried for GBH against Joe Bloggs on Tuesday and acquitted, you can be be tried again for GBH against Fred on Tuesday or Joe on Wednesday.

Or another way, if the events of Tuesday night are deemed to not amount to you murdering Joe Bloggs, then those events cannot be tried again as you committing murder.

But these days, acquittals can be appealed by the powers that be?

[Panamax]

Draxindustries1 said:

So would Dixon of Dock Green..

Gotta love it!