Emma-Jayne Magson v The Queen
January 28, 2020
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
- VICE-PRESIDENT COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence Law
January 28, 2020
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This appeal concerns Emma Magson’s 2016 murder conviction after James Knight died from a single chest stab wound outside Magson’s Leicester home. The Crown alleged Magson armed herself during an argument and stabbed Knight on the doorstep, hid the knife, delayed calling for help, and misled witnesses. At trial, she relied on a prepared statement asserting self‑defence and did not give evidence; the jury convicted her and the judge imposed life imprisonment with a 17‑year minimum term. On appeal, new psychological and psychiatric evidence from Dr Maxine Sinclair, Dr Davies and Dr Garrett diagnosed emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), supporting diminished responsibility. Applying section 23 Criminal Appeal Act 1968, the Court of Appeal, despite concerns about expert shopping, accepted a reasonable explanation for the late evidence, held the verdict unsafe because diminished responsibility was not left to the jury, and ordered a retrial. A postscript records her 2021 reconviction and unsuccessful 2022 appeal.
On 4 November 2016 at the Crown Court at Leicester before Judge Dean Q.C. and a jury the appellant was convicted of murder.
On 7 November 2016 she was sentenced to imprisonment for life. 17 years was specified as the minimum term under section 269 (2) Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Before this court, the appellant appeals against her conviction with limited leave of the full Court (see [19] and [20] below).
The appellant and James Knight (the deceased) had been in a relationship since around October 2015, which had been volatile on both sides. It was the prosecution case that she was particularly aggressive under the influence of alcohol. Sometime in early March 2016, less than two weeks before the murder, the appellant suffered a miscarriage.
On 26 March 2016, the appellant and Knight had been out separately, drinking with friends. They were in touch throughout the afternoon by mobile telephone and they met at a public house in Leicester city centre at about midnight. Thereafter, Knight was asked to leave the pub because of his behaviour. The couple took a taxi home but they began arguing. Their behaviour was such that the driver asked them to leave the vehicle.
CCTV footage showed Knight push the appellant causing her to fall, and various witnesses on their route home heard them arguing loudly. Shortly afterwards, a neighbour became aware of the deceased banging on the door of the appellant’s home, asking to be let in. The appellant shouted “I’m not letting you in after last time”. Black marks found in due course on the door of the appellant’s home tended to confirm this part of the history. At some point shortly afterwards, Knight called a friend and told him that the appellant was “kicking off”.
Other neighbours were woken by the couple arguing in the early hours of the morning, and one heard Knight say “my heart is bleeding” and noticed blood on his upper clothing. By this time, on the Crown’s case, Knight had been stabbed by the appellant. The Crown suggested Magson had lost her temper as Knight tried to get into the house. She armed herself with a kitchen knife and after she opened the door, she stabbed him through the chest. The forensic evidence indicated this occurred on the doorstep. Knight fell to the ground. The appellant immediately hid the weapon in a bin belonging to a neighbouring house to avoid it being found. Knight got up, staggered about, made groaning noises and fell onto his back in the street. Magson took his heavily stained T