The claimant sought an injunction to prevent the respondent Trades Union calling on its members to boycott mail to South Africa. The respondents challenged the ability of the court to make such an order. Held: The wide wording of the statute did not mean that the courts had, in effect, limitless powers to grant interlocutory … Continue reading Gouriet v Union of Post Office Workers: HL 26 Jul 1977
Appeal from convictions of possession and supply of cannabis and amphetamines. Judges: Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers LCJ Citations: [2008] EWCA Crim 1074 Links: Bailii Statutes: Criminal Law Act 1977 1(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Leave to appeal – Regina v Kenning, Blackshaw, Fenwick CACD 24-Jun-2008 The defendants appealed against their convictions for … Continue reading Kenning, Regina v: CACD 23 Apr 2008
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy to facilitate breaches of immigration law, saying that they had been based on evidence obtained by the police from credit reference agencies in breach of their rights under the 1984 Act. Held: The appeals failed. The defendants had expressly agreed in their credit applications and finance agreements … Continue reading Bhatti and Others v Regina: CACD 30 Jul 2015
Where a prosecution alleges some form of aggravation of criminal damage in a conspiracy charge, the aggravating feature must be mentioned in the indictment. Citations: Times 16-Dec-1997, Gazette 08-Jan-1998 Statutes: Criminal Law Act 1977 1(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.87634
The defendant appealed aganst his conviction for conspiracy to engage in moneylaundering. At trial he pleaded guilty subject to a qualification that he had not known that the money was the proceeds of crime, though he may have suspected that it would be. Held: (Baroness Hale of Richmond dissenting) The appeal succeeded: ‘the Crown’s principal … Continue reading Saik, Regina v: HL 3 May 2006
The defendants had manufactured boxes whose sole purpose would be to reverse electricity meters. The prosecutor appealed against their acquittal by the CACD on the basis that the offence of conspiracy to aid and abet did not exist, since aiding and abetting was not a statutory offence with the 1977 Act. Held: The appeal succeeded. … Continue reading Regina v Hollinshead; Dettlaff, Griffiths: HL 2 Jan 1985
Judges: Lady Justice Carr DBE Mr Justice Linden Mr Justice Wall Citations: [2022] EWCA Crim 72 Links: Bailii Statutes: Criminal Law Act 1977 1(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.678718
Four defendants appealed convictions in money laundering cases. The first defendant operated a money exchange through which substantial volumes of cash were moved, but claimed that he believed the money to have been honestly acquired. Held: Saik now meant that the requirement was for actual suspicion, not mere reasonable cause for suspicion. However in this … Continue reading Suchedina v Regina; similar: CACD 27 Oct 2006
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy to launder money under section 49(2) of the 1994 Act. The appellants said that the effect of the decision in Montila, alongside sections 1(1) and 1(2) of the 1997 Act, was that a person could not be guilty of a conspiracy to commit an offence against section … Continue reading Ali, Hussain, Khan, Bhatti, Regina v: CACD 7 Jun 2005
It was possible to have an indictment which alleged a conspiracy to commit either one of two alternative offences. A conspiracy could clearly be to commit more than one offence. The phrase in the section ‘offence or offences’ should not be construed exclusively conjunctively. It is the agreement which is at the heart of a … Continue reading Regina v Hussain, Regina v Bhatti, Regina v Bhatti: CACD 16 Jan 2002
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy to aid an abet a fraud under the 1977 Act. Held: The appeal succeeded. There was no offence of conspiracy in the form alleged namely to aid and abet, since aiding and abetting were not a statutory conspiracy within the 1977 Act. The appellants were wholesalers and … Continue reading Regina v Hollinshead: CACD 1985
The presumption of corruption which arose by virtue of the statute under the 1916 Act did not apply on a charge of conspiracy to corrupt under the earlier Act. The charge of conspiracy was a charge on its own under the Criminal Law Act and was not affected by the presumption, and was not accordingly … Continue reading Regina v Attorney-General, ex Parte Rockall: QBD 19 Jul 1999
The defendants appealed sentences of 7.5 and 3 years for conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration. They had hired lorries with a view to bringing people in It was submitted that the sentences were outside the powers under the Act. The sentence had been increased to ten years. The conspiracy extended over the point where the … Continue reading Regina v Hobbs, Hobbs, Hobbs, Charge: CACD 14 Feb 2002
The applicants challenged their convictions and sentences for conspiracy to corrupt. They owned a company manufacturing fuel additives. Technology developments meant that they came under increasing pressure on sales. They were said to have entered into corrupt agreemets to boost sales, sweetener payments being said to have been made by their agents. They complained that … Continue reading Serious Fraud Office v Papachristos and Another: CACD 19 Sep 2014
The defendant had faced trial on terrorist charges. He claimed that delay and the very substantial adverse publicity had made his fair trial impossible, and that it was not an offence for a foreign national to solicit murders to be carried out abroad. Held: The appeal failed. Murder is singled out as an offence even … Continue reading Regina v Abu Hamza: CACD 28 Nov 2006
Several defendants sought to appeal against convictions. They were public officials accused of having committed misconduct in public office in the sale of information relating to their work to journalists. The journalists were convicted of conspiracy with the public officials and aiding and abetting them to commit the offence. Held: The direction as to the … Continue reading ABC and Others, Regina v: CACD 26 Mar 2015
The claimants said that agents of the defendant had unlawfully accessed their mobile phone systems. The court was now asked whether the agent (M) could rely on the privilege against self incrimination, and otherwise as to the progress of the case. The claimant asserted that their claim was an intellectual property claim, allowing section 72 … Continue reading Gray v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Another; Coogan v Same: ChD 25 Feb 2011
The defendant got drunk and set fire to the hotel where he worked. Guests were present. He was indicted upon two counts of arson. He pleaded guilty to the 1(1) count but contested the 1(2) charge, saying he was so drunk that the thought there might be people never crossed his mind. Setting aside his … Continue reading Commissioner of Police v Caldwell: HL 19 Mar 1981
Appeals from historic conviction (2011) of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on importation of a controlled drug, cocaine, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal law Act 1977. Judges: Sir Julian Flaux Chancellor of the High Court Citations: [2021] EWCA Crim 432 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.660766
Money had been taken by the Police, but after the applicants had been acquitted, they sought it to be returned. Their action was struck out after long delays. They applied to the Magistrates who turned down the application. Held: The money should be returned ‘ . . once it is clear that the claimant is … Continue reading Morgan, Regina (on the Application of) v Justices of Dyfed Powys Magistrates’ Court: Admn 18 Jun 2003
The claimants sought return of vehicle parts from the police. The police replied that the goods had been tampered with in such a way as to suggest they may have been stolen, and that they were therefore kept, even after the finish of the court procedings against the claimants, to ascertain their ownership under the … Continue reading Gough and Another v The Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police: CA 2 Mar 2004
The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human Rights Act since it deprived the respondent lender of its property rights. It was also argued that it was not possible to make a declaration … Continue reading Wilson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2): HL 10 Jul 2003
The defendants, young boys, had set fire to paper and thrown the lit papers into a wheelie bin, expecting the fire to go out. In fact substantial damage was caused. The House was asked whether a conviction was proper under the section where the defendant had given no thought to a risk of damage, but … Continue reading Regina v G and R: HL 16 Oct 2003
The defendants had been trading on Sundays in breach of s.47 of the Shops Act 1950, which, by s.71(1) imposed on every local authority the duty to enforce within their district the provisions of that Act. Parliament has given local authorities a special status to bring proceedings in their own name, thereby overcoming the difficulties … Continue reading Stoke-On-Trent City Council v B and Q (Retail) Ltd: HL 1984
The claimant had served an asset freezing order on the bank in respect of one of its customers. The bank paid out on a cheque inadvertently as to the order. The Commissioners claimed against the bank in negligence. The bank denied any duty of care. Held: The bank’s appeal succeeded. The bank owed a duty … Continue reading HM Customs and Excise v Barclays Bank Plc: HL 21 Jun 2006
Slander damages reduced for conduct Claim in slander. The defendant was said, at a church meeting to have accused the client of threatening to slit her throat. The defendant argued that the audience of 80 was not large enough. Held: ‘the authorities demonstrate that it is the quality of the publishees not their quantity that … Continue reading Dhir v Saddler: QBD 6 Dec 2017
The land-owner had planning permission to erect a barn, conditional on its use for agricultural purposes. He built inside it a house and lived there from 2002. In 2006. He then applied for a certificate of lawful use. The inspector allowed it, and the Council appealed. The Council now also argued that parliament could not … Continue reading Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Another v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council: SC 6 Apr 2011
Course of Transmission includes Voicemails The defendants appealed against convictions for conspiracy to intercept telephone voicemail messages whilst employed in various positions in newspapers. The issue boiled down to when the ‘course of transmission’ of a voicemail message ended, that is whether a voicemail message which was saved by the recipient on the voicemail facility … Continue reading Edmondson and Others v Regina: CACD 28 Jun 2013
The 1995 Regulations imposed a levy on fish both caught and first landed in the UK and also on imported fish products. The claimants, importers challenged the validity of the latter charges, saying that they went beyond the power given by the 1981 Act, and also were contrary to EU law. Held: The appeal succeeded. … Continue reading Bloomsbury International Ltd v Sea Fish Industry Authority and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: SC 15 Jun 2011
The plaintiffs as representatives sought to restrain Amstrad selling equipment with two cassette decks without taking precautions which would reasonably ensure that their copyrights would not be infringed by its users. Held: Amstrad could only be liable as a joint tortfeasor. If they were not a joint tortfeasor they would be under no tortious liability. … Continue reading CBS Songs Ltd v Amstrad Consumer Electronics Plc: HL 12 May 1988
The claimant complained that the defendant had published on its internet forums comments by posters which were defamatory of it, and which were then made available by the second defendant search engine. The court was asked what responsibility a search engine might have for a defamation pointed to by its results pages. Held: As to … Continue reading Metropolitan International Schools Ltd. (T/A Skillstrain And/Or Train2Game) v Designtechnica Corp (T/A Digital Trends) and Others: QBD 16 Jul 2009
The Council appealed a finding that the court did not have jurisdiction to obtain without notice injunctions to control the behaviour of youths said to be creating a disturbance, including restricting their rights to enter certain parts of the city with named others. The council was using the orders to attempt to control gang activities. … Continue reading Birmingham City Council v Shafi and Another: CA 30 Oct 2008
The court considered whether a power of appeal to the existed.
Held: A power did exist under FETO, and the CANI having mistakenly excluded a power to appeal the Supreme Court could nevertheless hear it. Both appeals were allowed. . .
Appeal from conviction of conspiracy to possess explosives for an unlawful purpose, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. . .
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy to aid and abet the production of drugs. They sold materials which could be used for the growing of cannabis, but exhibited a notice warning customers against this. They told . .
Appeal against sentence of nine years’ imprisonment imposed on the applicant following conviction on one count of conspiracy to rob, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 . .
