The court considered the confession made by the accused and observed that where an
accused person has entered a plea of not guilty, the court should be conscious in admitting
evidence of a confession as is bound to be prejudicial to the plea in question and it is not safe
to admit it in evidence on the ground that counsel for the accused/appellant has not
challenged it or its admissibility has not been challenged. The court must ascertain whether it
was made voluntarily and hold a trial within a trial to determine its admissibility and failure to
comply with the practice directions of recording a confession alone would not affect the
validity of the confession unless it goes to the root of the case.
The appeal was accordingly dismissed.