The defendant appealed against his conviction for having had unlawful sex with an underage girl. He had pleaded guilty but now said this had been n a misunderstanding of the law. He had believed the girl to be 15, but his belief that that belief was insufficient was disturbed by a decision of the Supreme Court.
Held: The appeal against conviction failed. Unlike the Sexual Offences Act 1956 the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 provides a reliable statutory framework for the necessary implication that a defence based upon belief as to age is not available to a charge under section 4 of that Act.
Judges:
Morgan LCJ, Higgins LJ and Coghlin LJ
Citations:
[2011] NICA 47
Links:
Statutes:
Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
Jurisdiction:
Northern Ireland
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Manchester Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Hill and others HL 1993
The complaint had been laid before Magistrates before the expiration of the time limit, but was only considered and the summons issued after the time limit. The House also considered the power of delegation where a justice of the peace or the clerk . .
Cited by:
Appeal from – Brown, Regina v (Northern Ireland) SC 26-Jun-2013
The complainaint, a 13 year old girl had first said that the defendant had had intercourse with her againt her consent. After his arrest, she accepted that this was untrue. On being recharged with unlawful intercourse, he admitted guilt believing he . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.451571