Gamini v. The Attorney General – sllr 1999 volume 1 page 321

In the case between Gamini (Accused-appellant) and the Attorney-General, the court addressed the issue of whether the plea of automatism, based on a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy, could rebut the presumption of mental capacity and discharge the burden on the prosecution to prove that the accused’s act was voluntary. It was held that the defence had established a sufficient foundation for the plea of automatism, requiring the prosecution to prove voluntariness beyond reasonable doubt, and that this threshold was not met. Accordingly, the court determined that an acquittal was warranted on the primary charges, while conditions including the suspension of the driving licence and medical assessments were imposed. The decision reaffirmed the principle that a credible automatism defence sh