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Woman jailed for 'frenzied' knife murder loses bid to have conviction quashed

Spindrift A woman with long brown hair, a headband and glasses walking along a street. She is photographed from the chest up and is wearing a black coat and carrying a black bag. Spindrift
Stacey Balfour carried out the attack with Cameron Woods, who she was in a relationship with at the time

A woman who was jailed with her then-partner for the "frenzied" knife murder of a man in a tower block has failed in a bid to have her conviction quashed.

Stacey Balfour, 25, was ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years for her role in the death of 26-year-old Robert Fisher in July 2023.

A jury at the High Court in Glasgow heard how Fisher was found critically injured in a flat in Paisley after a row with Cameron Woods and his partner Balfour. He died in hospital four days later.

Balfour and Woods were found guilty of murder following a trial, with Woods sentenced to a minimum of 18-and-a-half years.

Jurors initially convicted Woods of murder and Balfour of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

But trial judge Lady Hood found the verdict against Balfour to be legally incompetent and asked jurors to reconsider their verdict after giving them further directions in law.

It resulted in the jury convicting her of murder. Lawyers for Balfour believe she suffered a miscarriage of justice.

Earlier this year, defence lawyer Thomas Ross KC addressed judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal and argued that his client should not have been convicted of murder.

Police Scotland Robert Fisher, with short, fair hair and a white shirt, is pictured in a park.Police Scotland
Robert Fisher died in hospital four days after he was critically injured

He said: "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."

However, in a written judgment published on Tuesday, appeal judges Lord Beckett, Lady Wise and Lady Carmichael upheld Balfour's conviction for murder .

Lord Beckett, who wrote the opinion, concluded that Lady Hood followed correct legal procedures and that the jury were entitled to convict Balfour of murder on the evidence available to them.

Lord Beckett wrote: "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."

The judge added: "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."