Sabapathee had been convicted by a magistrates’ court of drugs-related offences based largely on the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice. The magistrates treated the accomplice's evidence with caution but nevertheless convicted Sabapathee on that evidence. An appeal against conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court on the ground that the magistrates had misdirected themselves in the manner in which they had dealt with the accomplice's evidence. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed to the Privy Council.