Defendants discharged after CPS offers no evidence

21/03/2011

Four individuals from the Newbury area who were accused of conspiring to murder a man by poisoning him will not face prosecution.

The trial of Serina Hales, Andrew Morris, Jacqueline Thomas and Samantha Miles was due to start at Reading Crown Court today, Monday, 21 March. On 16 March, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided that the case could not go ahead and notified the defence and the court.

Today at Reading Crown Court, the Crown formally offered no evidence against each defendant and Her Honour Judge Zoe Smith entered not guilty verdicts.

The police had been alerted in July 2010 to the existence of an alleged plot to murder Richard Dean, the former partner of one of the defendants, Serina Hales, by putting a large quantity of an anti-depressant drug in his food. The matter was investigated and sufficient evidence was identified at that time to bring charges against the four named defendants.

The matter was kept under review and the police and CPS continued to make exhaustive enquiries regarding the credibility and reliability of the evidence relied upon to substantiate the charge.

Material was identified which undermined the case for the Crown and assisted the defence. Having subjected this material to careful and detailed scrutiny, the CPS decided that there was no longer any realistic prospect of obtaining a conviction against any defendant.

In accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, the decision was taken that the proceedings should be terminated. All four defendants have been discharged.