Murder trial halted by ban on anonymity of witnesses

Two months into the trial the judge discharged the jury and ordered a retrial over the alleged contract killing of businessman Charlie Butler in Dagenham.

Four prosecution witnesses had given evidence under false names, from behind screens and with their voices distorted during the trial of David Austin and Douglas Johnson - which had already been beset by delays.

Austin, 41, of Thornton Heath, and Johnson, 27, of New Addington, both pleaded not guilty to murder. They were remanded in custody today.

Judge David Paget told the jury: "This trial has been derailed and I'm going to discharge you from giving verdicts and order a retrial in the New Year.

"Last Wednesday the House of Lords decided in a very far-reaching judgment that evidence from anonymous witnesses cannot be admitted because of the difficulty caused to the defence if they don't know who the witnesses are and are therefore deprived of investigating whether they may be inaccurate or untruthful. The ruling is binding on all the courts."

The court had heard how Mr Butler, 50, who owned a wheel-clamping firm and had a history of dishonesty, had been shot near his home in 2004. His wife Yvonne and stepdaughter Marcia had offered £5,000 to have him killed after he allegedly molested the younger woman, the jury was told.

CCTV footage played to the jurors showed a man aiming at Mr Butler with a gun, which apparently failed to go off at point-blank range. Mr Butler was then chased around a car before he tripped and was shot in the neck. He failed to regain consciousness and died nine months later.

A multi-million-pound inquiry followed to find the killer and investigate alleged police corruption.

As he ended the trial, Judge Paget told the jury: "The past week has been spent analysing the implications of the (Law Lords) decision for this case and seeing whether there are any circumstances in which we could continue.

"But in the end the position is that you have heard evidence you should not have heard from anonymous witnesses and it's impossible to ask you to ignore that evidence."

Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner John Yates has called the Law Lords' decision "potentially disastrous" and predicted it would lead to a raft of appeals by convicted killers.

In the past few weeks at the Old Bailey alone men accused of killing schoolboy Michael Dosunmu in Peckham, Polish nursing assistant Magda Pniewska in New Cross, and youth worker Nathan Foster in Brixton have all been convicted thanks in part to evidence from anonymous witnesses.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has said that he is considering a change in the law to allow the right of anonymity to be restored to some witnesses.

A senior QC at the Old Bailey today said: "Clearly the circumstances in which witnesses have to be protected are more appropriate for gangland-type cases. This was not that sort of case.

"The problem is it had become routine for the prosecution to ask for anonymity for witnesses... If the defence does not know the names of the witnesses they cannot take instruction from their clients and cannot work out why someone could have been lying.

"In this case there were witnesses who were giving evidence of overhearing confessions and the defence could not get a fix on it."