ABSTRACT
The prosecution must call all the witnesses whose statements were served on the defence in the committal proceedings (R v Balmforth [1992] Crim LR 825). The exceptions to this rule are as follows: • the defence consent to the written statement of the witness being read to
the court (under Sched 1, para 1 or 2 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996); or
• the prosecution take the view that the witness is no longer credible (R v Oliva [1965] 1 WLR 1028; [1965] 3 All ER 116); or
• the witness would so fundamentally contradict the prosecution case that it would be better for that witness to be called by the defence (R v Nugent [1977] 1 WLR 789; [1977] 3 All ER 662).
