Conviction Upheld in Knife Murder Case
A woman who was imprisoned alongside her then-partner for the "frenzied" knife murder of a man in a tower block has failed in her attempt to have her conviction overturned.
Stacey Balfour, aged 25, was sentenced to serve a minimum of 16 years for her involvement in the death of 26-year-old Robert Fisher in July 2023.
Details of the Incident and Trial
A jury at the High Court in Glasgow heard that Fisher was found critically injured in a flat in Paisley following an altercation with Cameron Woods and his partner, Balfour. Fisher succumbed to his injuries and died in hospital four days later.
Balfour and Woods were both found guilty of murder after the trial, with Woods receiving a minimum sentence of 18-and-a-half years.
Initially, the jurors convicted Woods of murder and Balfour of the lesser charge of culpable homicide. However, the trial judge, Lady Hood, ruled that the verdict against Balfour was legally incompetent and instructed the jury to reconsider their decision after providing additional legal guidance.
This led to the jury convicting Balfour of murder. Her legal representatives argued that this constituted a miscarriage of justice.
Appeal Proceedings
Earlier in the year, defence counsel Thomas Ross KC presented arguments to the Court of Criminal Appeal, asserting that Balfour should not have been convicted of murder.
"It's clear, in my submission, that when the jury returned and attempted to convict Stacey Balfour by majority of culpable homicide, then they intended it to be a final verdict.
My starting point is that the jury intended to convict her of culpable homicide."
Despite these arguments, a written judgment released on Tuesday by appeal judges Lord Beckett, Lady Wise, and Lady Carmichael upheld Balfour's murder conviction.
Judges' Rationale
Lord Beckett, who authored the opinion, determined that Lady Hood had adhered to proper legal procedures and that the jury was justified in convicting Balfour of murder based on the evidence presented.
"It seems clear that the jury considered the appellant to bear joint criminal responsibility for Mr Wood's murderous assault.
In a situation where the purported verdict did not signal that the jury had reached a final verdict of acquittal, and the 'verdict' was inconsistent with her directions, the judge was entitled and, in our view, correct to invite the jury to retire and reconsider their verdict."
Lord Beckett further noted:
"She (Balfour) participated in the attack. There is no indication that she sought to restrain her co-accused.
She did nothing to seek assistance for their victim, instead removing herself from the scene along with her co-accused before attempting to run away from the police.
The appeal against sentence is refused."
