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DM v HM Advocate
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DM v HM Advocate
HCA/2026/55/XC
Appeal against Conviction
Thursday 29 October 2026
10:30 until conclusion
Brian McConnachie KC
[1] The appellant was convicted after trial at the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh of an aggravated charge of rape against his former partner, AB. At a continued diet of sentence on 14 January 2026, the trial judge imposed a sentence of four years’ imprisonment, reduced from a headline sentence of five years on account of his relative youth. The trial judge also imposed a Non-Harassment Order relative to AB for an indefinite period.
[2] The appellant appeals against conviction on the basis that his trial lawyers failed to present his defence to the jury at trial. More particularly, he contends that his lawyers failed to make an application under section 275(3) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act in order to adduce evidence of sexual and non-sexual behaviour exhibited by AB after the incident complained of. He argues that, in light of the UK Supreme Court’s judgement in Daly & Keir v HM Advocate [2025] UKSC 38, 2025 SLT 1253, such an application would have been granted and his lawyers’ failure to make an application has given rise to a miscarriage of justice.