Gordon-Smith CJ, A-G:

In this appeal No. 1 accused appealed as regards his sentence only and No. 2 accused appealed against his conviction. The charge was unlawful possession of ammunition, 48,952 rounds in ammunition boxes.

The appeal of No. 1 was dismissed and that of No. 2 accused was successful to the extent that the conviction was quashed and retrial was ordered. We stated that we would give our reasons later.

Accused No. 1 pleaded guilty and the learned Judge postponed sentence until after the hearing of the case against No. 2 accused. He should have been removed not only from the dock but from the Court also. He was, later, called by No. 2 accused as a witness and had been in Court the whole time. This of course was not actually very material but it was undesirable.

At the conclusion of the prosecution case against No. 2 accused (he was unrepresented) he elected to make a statement from the dock. He was twice interrupted by the Judge and told, in effect, that he must not give hearsay evidence. We think that an accused making a statement from the dock should be allowed to do so in his own way whether or not part of what he says is, technically inadmissible or not.