[IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL]

1963 Present: Basnayake, C.J. (President), Herat, J., and Abeyesundere, J.

THE QUEEN v. R. D. ABADDA

APPEAL No. 8 OF 1963, WITH APPLICATION No. 8

S.C. 38/62-M. C. Kurunegala, 13422

Evidence-Confession-Inadmissibility of even an innocuous portion of it-Use of confession to discredit accused-Illegality-Evidence Ordinance, ss. 25, 156 (3).

      The question whether a statement made by an accused person to a police officer is a confession within the meaning of section 25 of the Evidence Ordinance is one that has to be decided upon reading the entire statement. If the statement as a whole contains a statement that the accused person committed an offence or that suggests the inference that he committed an offence, then it would come within the prohibition contained in section 25 of the Evidence Ordinance.

        Where the accused's statement contains a confession, the prohibition contained in section 25 of the Evidence Ordinance bars the proof against the accused of not only those portions of the statement which admit guilt or suggest the inference that he committed the offence but also those portions of