§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of the case of Peter Lamb of Withington, Manchester, whose appeal against conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal after he had been convicted on the basis of identification evidence alone, if he is satisfied that current guidelines to the police on identification are sufficiently stringent; and if he will institute a thorough reappraisal of identification evidence.
§ Mr. BrittanThe law and procedure relating to identification evidence were thoroughly reviewed by the departmental committee on evidence of identification in criminal cases—the Devlin Committee—published in April 1976 (HC 388). We see no need for a further special review of these issues or for any revision of the present rules and administrative guidance on the conduct of identification parades and the use of photographs for identification, which were formulated in the light of the committee's recommendations.