Sir John Beaumont.-

This is an appeal by special leave from the judgment of the Court of Appeal at Jamaica, dated 6th January 1944, dismissing the appellant's appeal on his conviction before Watts J. and a jury at Sav-la-Mar on the Northern Circuit for the Parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, on 26th November 1943, for the murder of Lamton Woolcock on 2nd September 1913.

The appellant was arraigned on indictment before Watts J. with the murder, on 2nd September 1943, of Lamton Woolcock in the Parish of Westmoreland. He pleaded "Not Guilty" and a jury of 12 men was sworn to try the case. The trial proceeded from 22nd to 26th November 1943, when the appellant was found guilty and convicted and sentenced to death. He appealed to the Court of Appeal in Jamaica, and on 6th January 1944, his appeal was dismissed without any reasons being given by the Court. At the conclusion of the argument, before this Board their Lordships announced that they would humbly advise His Majesty that the appeal should be allowed and the conviction quashed, and that they would state their reasons in writing at a later date. This they proceed to do.

According to the evidence of the widow of the murdered man, he left