Two 15-year-old friends, Ela and Jatinder, are sunbathing in their local park when they hear shouting. They look across and see a young man running along the opposite side of the wildlife pond, followed by an older woman who shouts, 'Stop, thief! Give me my purse!' The older woman throws a large stone at him, which hits him in the head; he falls and drops something into the pond.

Shortly after, the emergency services arrive. The young man, Jay, is taken away in an ambulance while the police ask Ela and Jatinder what they saw. They take descriptions of the woman - Ela says she was about 40, average height and build, white, with long blonde hair; Jatinder thinks she was older, perhaps 50, and quite short. PC Khan then takes Ela to the police station where she is shown photographs to see if she can pick out the woman. Meanwhile, Jatinder is driven around the local area by PC Jacobs and spots a woman she believes is the one she saw earlier.

The woman is identified as Flora, a light brown-haired white woman who is 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall and 38 years old. She denies having been in the park, but both Ela and Jatinder pick her out in a video identification. Their identifications are the main evidence against her; a fabric purse recovered from the pond contained cash but no cards.

• a.Explain whether Ela and Jatinder's eyewitness identifications are likely to be admissible at Flora's trial for grievous bodily harm. 
• b.Ela and Jatinder have been summoned as witnesses in Jay's trial for theft. However, they have never been to court before and are concerned about giving evidence. Explain whether they are competent and compellable to give evidence; whether they will be entitled to special measures; and if so, which special measures might be used. 

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a The admissibility of Ela and Jatinders eyewitness identifications can depend on a number of factors Eyewitness identification is typically admissibl... View the full answer