ABSTRACT
It is trite law that a discharge in a preliminary inquiry is not an acquittal since there is no final adjudication at the committal stage. Accordingly the laying of a fresh information in respect of the same incident will not support a plea of autrefois: R v Manchester City Stipendiary Magistrate ex p Snelson [1978] 2 All ER 62. In that case the applicant was charged with indictable offences under the Theft Act. On the first occasion, 8 December 1976, when the matter came up for hearing, the prosecution was not ready to proceed and an adjournment was granted until 13 January 1977. On that date they still had not completed their case, but the magistrate refused a further adjournment and, when the prosecution did not offer any evidence, discharged the applicant.
