Aqeel Noorali secures acquittal in a s.18 wounding case at Blackfriars Crown Court

Aqeel acted for TB, a homeless man, who was accused of causing two serious head wounds to a 60 year-old man after trespassing on his property. The complainant’s head wound was subsequently infected with necrotising fasciitis, a flesh eating bacteria, leaving the complainant with life changing injuries.

Shreena Thurairajah of ACA Law raised the issue of causation with the prosecution, who were insistent that it should be left to the jury. At a pre-trial hearing, Aqeel successfully argued that the jury should not be told of the subsequent infection as the prosecution had not and could not prove causation and that, in any event, the evidence of the necrotising fasciitis was inadmissible.

After a six day trial, the jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on five of the six counts on the indictment. The jury had already returned a directed not guilty verdict on count 5 after a successful half time submission.

Aqeel was instructed by Michael Range and Shreena Thurairajah of ACA Law.