Premature majority verdict brings murder retrial for Clarke

The Court of Appeal ordered a new trial of Errol Clarke on six murder counts on 16 October after finding that a majority jury verdict had been accepted too soon. The decision produced sharply different results for Clarke and co-accused Mikhail Campbell following their convictions over a fatal 2015 attack and fire in Hanover.

The record showed one hour and 38 minutes of jury deliberation before Clarke’s five-to-two guilty verdicts. The statutory provision applicable to those murder counts required two hours before such a majority verdict could be received. The court treated the murder proceedings as a nullity, quashed those convictions and ordered a retrial in the interests of justice.

Clarke’s arson and four grievous-bodily-harm convictions remained valid. The shorter deliberation period was sufficient for those offences. After crediting three months spent on remand against the arson sentence, the court fixed the aggregate term for the surviving convictions at 39 years and nine months.

Campbell’s application to challenge his convictions was refused. Although the minimum period before parole eligibility on one murder count was reduced from 43 to 29 years, the other sentences and their consecutive structure left his aggregate minimum at 80 years. Clarke’s retrial order was not an acquittal or an order releasing him.

Mixed outcome: Clarke faces a retrial of the murder counts; his other convictions remain, and Campbell's convictions remain. This report concerns the 16 October 2026 appellate order, not any later retrial result or release decision. Subsequent proceedings were not checked.