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2. What are alternative charges?

An alternative charge is when an accused person is not guilty of an offence, but the allegation of the information, charge or indictment of the same may prove the guilt of the accused person of another offence, then the accused person may still be found guilty of that other offence. For example, if an accused person is charged with “inflicting grievous bodily harm”, the accused person may be found not guilty to this charge but be found guilty of another charge of “assault occasioning actual bodily harm” based on the same allegation in the indictment.

 

A possible outcome is that when someone pleads not guilty to a particular offence (e.g. Offence A) but pleads guilty of a different offence that they could be charged with based on the same incident (e.g. Offence B), upon the conviction of Offence B but without going through a full trial for Offence A which they pleaded not guilty to, the conviction for Offence B (which the person pleads guilty to) will be treated as an acquittal for Offence A (which the person pleads not guilty to). 

 

When there are alternative charges of different degrees of seriousness, the procedure for handling the pleas may differ. For example, if the accused person pleads guilty to the lesser offence, the judge will consider them not guilty of the more serious charge. On the other hand, if the accused pleads guilty to the more serious charge, there is no need to consider the lesser charge separately.

 

Furthermore, if there are alternative charges and the accused pleads not guilty to both charges but is found guilty of the more serious charge, the jury should not give a verdict on the alternative charge. This is to prevent complications during the appeal process, as it would be difficult for the Court of Appeal to substitute the proper verdict if the accused has already been acquitted (i.e. declared not guilty) of the alternative charge by the jury.

 

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