Key Facts
- •Thomas Michael Nutt was convicted of murdering his wife, Dawn Walker.
- •He initially pleaded guilty to manslaughter, the trial focused on intent to kill or cause really serious harm.
- •The couple married on October 27, 2021, and went to Skegness.
- •Mrs. Walker's body was found in a suitcase near their home on October 31, 2021.
- •Nutt's statement to police implicated him in her death, describing a fight and chokehold.
- •The prosecution argued the murder happened on the night of the wedding (October 27-28), relying on neighbor testimony, CCTV, and ANPR evidence.
- •The defense argued the murder occurred on October 30-31, based on Nutt's account.
- •A jury note questioned the effect of intoxication on the law.
- •The judge's response to the jury's question is the main ground of appeal.
Legal Principles
A judge must give a direction on intoxication if there is evidence of drunkenness that might raise an issue about whether specific intent could be formed.
Aidid v The Queen [2021] EWCA Crim 581
A judge is only required to provide a direction in relation to a matter upon which the jury could reasonably come to a particular conclusion.
Alexander Von Starck v The Queen [2000] 1 WLR 1270
Failure to give an intoxication direction, or to deliver it precisely, may not necessarily result in an unsafe verdict; this depends on all the evidence and directions given.
Aidid v The Queen [2021] EWCA Crim 581
Outcomes
Leave to appeal refused.
The court found insufficient evidence of intoxication at the time of the killing to necessitate a full intoxication direction. Even if a direction was needed, the strong evidence against the applicant and lack of other trial errors made the conviction safe.