HC Deb 14 December 1953 vol 522 c1W
1 and 2. Mr. F. Willey

asked the Attorney-General (1) why, in the case of Rex versus Timothy John Evans, the names and addresses of persons from whom the police had taken statements, but who were not called to give evidence for the prosecution, were not supplied to the defence;

(2) the present practice regarding information obtained by the police in the course of their inquiries and not used in evidence for the prosecution in cases of murder and other serious crimes.

The Solicitor-General

Where a state-has been taken from a person who can give material evidence the practice is for the prosecution, if they do not call him as a witness, to make him available to the defence in the sense that the defence will be at liberty to call him. This practice was followed in the Evans case. It is not the practice for the prosecution to supply the defence with a copy of the statement.