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Judges reject 'joint enterprise' challenge Judges reject 'joint enterprise' challenge
(35 minutes later)
Judges have refused to overturn guilty verdicts in a "joint enterprise" challenge by men convicted of group attack murders.Judges have refused to overturn guilty verdicts in a "joint enterprise" challenge by men convicted of group attack murders.
The test case was brought after the Supreme Court ruled in February the law had wrongly been interpreted for more than 30 years. The test cases were brought after the Supreme Court ruled in February the law had wrongly been interpreted for more than 30 years.
The challenges followed the decision that it was wrong to treat "foresight" as a sufficient test to convict a defendant under joint enterprise.
It paved the way for the first appeals.
The decision to reject the cases was met with cries of protest by supporters of the men sitting in the public gallery at the Court of Appeal.
'Whole evidence'
The joint enterprise law has been used to convict people in gang-related cases if defendants could have foreseen violent acts by their associates.
In February the Supreme Court said that this was being misinterpreted and juries had to decide on the "whole evidence".
In his judgement, Lord Neuberger said the ruling did not automatically mean all previous joint enterprise convictions were unsafe.
Campaigners said the change would make the law fairer, but some murder victims' relatives said they were worried about possible appeals.