The defendant complained that he had pleaded guilty to a charge of corruption on the basis of an indication from the judge that he would not receive a custodial sentence. Having pleaded guilty he had then been sentenced to a six months prison sentence suspended for two years.
Held: It was time to move on from the practice set out in Turner. Where a defendant requested an indication from a judge, and had been appropriately advised, a judge might give an indication. The court set out in detail the pre-conditions for giving an indication. Among them were that the facts should have been agreed, the defendant should initiate the request, and he should be told of the limitations of the request, including the fact that it may not be binding so as to prevent a reference of the sentence by the prosecution as unduly lenient. As to the effect of the indication: ‘Once an indication has been given, it is binding and remains binding on the judge who has given it, and it also binds any other judge who becomes responsible for the case. In principle, the judge who has given an indication should, where possible, deal with the case immediately, and if that is not possible, any subsequent hearings should be listed before him. This cannot always apply. We recognise that a new judge has his own sentencing responsibilities, but judicial comity as well as the expectation aroused in a defendant that he will not receive a sentence in excess of whatever the first judge indicated, requires that a later sentencing judge should not exceed the earlier indication. If, after a reasonable opportunity to consider his position in the light of the indication, the defendant does not plead guilty, the indication will cease to have effect.’ An indication should not be sought on a basis of hypothetical facts. The factual basis on which the plea is made should be agreed between the prosecution and the defence. In this case the judge should have abided by his indication.
Judges:
Lord Woolf LCJ, Judge LJ, Treacey J, Wakerley J, Calvert-Smith J
Citations:
[2005] EWCA Crim 888, Times 21-Apr-2005, [2005] 1 WLR 2532, [2005] 2 CAR 20 and, [2006] 1 Cr App R (S) 6, [2005] Crim LR 659, [2005] 3 All ER 117
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Edwards, Denton and Jackson Hendley Crowley; Attorney General’s Reference (No. 1 of 2004) CACD 29-Apr-2004
The court considered references by the Attorney-General with regard to offences imposing a burden of proof upon the defendant. ‘An evidential burden will be discharged by a defendant by ensuring that there is some evidence before the court which . .
Cited – Simpson v Regina CACD 23-May-2003
The appellant challenged a confiscation order made on his conviction of VAT fraud. It was argued that one could not be made unless a proper notice had been given, and none of the offences occurred before 1995. On the assumption that section 1 of the . .
Cited – Practice Direction (Criminal Proceedings: Consolidation) CACD 8-Jul-2002
. .
Updated – Regina v Turner CACD 1970
The court considered an appeal where the defendant had entered a plea of guilty but had felt himself under undue pressure from the judge.
Held: The court urged caution in the practice of counsel seeing the judge in his chambers, though . .
Cited – Regina v Newton CACD 1982
Where there is a plea of guilty but there remains a conflict between the prosecution and defence as to the facts, the trial judge should approach the task of sentencing in one of three ways: a plea of not guilty can be entered to enable the jury to . .
Cited by:
Cited – Rooney and Others, Re Attorney General’s Reference (Number 1 of 2005) CANI 11-Nov-2005
The defendants had been convicted or armed robbery. The Attorney General appealed against the sentences saying they were too lenient. Rooney argued that his plea of guilty had been after an indication by the judge and the reference was misguided. . .
Cited – Kulah, Regina v CACD 13-Jul-2007
The defendant appealed his sentence, saying that the judge had given an indication of sentence and that he had acted upon it to his detriment.
Held: The giving of indications had caused difficulty. In this case the judge had later found that . .
Cited – McKinnon v The United States of America and Anotherr HL 30-Jul-2008
The appellant sought to avoid extradition to the US. He had hacked into 97 US government computers. He argued that the punishment he might expect in the US was completely disproportionate to the offence, and that he had been misled into entering . .
Cited – Regina v Dougall CACD 13-May-2010
The defendant had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to corrupt in having provided inducements for the award of medical supplies contracts to Greece. He appealed against a sentence of twelve months imprisonment, saying that it should have been suspended . .
Cited – AB and Others, Regina v CACD 21-Dec-2021
‘It is said that the convictions are unsafe because the judge’s indication was so generous that the offer was irresistible to any defendant, whether guilty or not, or at least it operated to apply inappropriate pressure so that the pleas should not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Criminal Sentencing
Leading Case
Updated: 28 January 2022; Ref: scu.224331