Woman will never face trial over assault

"Unexplained and blameworthy" prosecutorial delay extending over 24 years entitles a woman to an order permanently halting her prosecution on charges arising from a "savage" assault on her father, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Christopher Payne, aged 37, who was suffering severe renal failure at the time of the assault in May 1988, died six months later from multiple causes including an “old head injury”, the court noted.

Two young men, including the then 18-year-old boyfriend of Mr Payne’s daughter Sharon, aged 15, claimed she had asked them to have her father “done” because he was allegedly beating her and her mother.