An employee had made a secret profit by selling his own goods on his employer’s premises, thereby breaking the terms of his contract of employment.
Held: The moneys the employee received from his private customers were not received on account of his employer within the meaning of section 5(4), that the profits made by the employee were not the subject of a constructive trust, and that if they were, that constructive trust did not give the employer a proprietary right or interest in the secret profit within the ambit of section 5(1). ‘ if the contentions of the Crown are well founded and if in each case of secret profit a trust arises which falls within section 5, then a host of activities which no layman would think were stealing will be brought within the Theft Act 1968 . . There is a clear and important difference between on the one hand a person misappropriating specific property with which he has been entrusted, and on the other hand a person in a fiduciary position who uses that position to make a secret profit for which he will be held accountable. Whether the former is within section 5, we do not have to decide. As to the latter we are firmly of the view that he is not, because he is not a trustee.’

Citations:

[1986] 1 QB 491

Statutes:

Theft Act 1968 5(1) 5(4)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Kaur v Chief Constable for Hampshire CACD 1981
The court was concerned not to extend the Theft Act to include as thefts activities which many people would not consider to be such: ‘the court should not be astute to find that a theft has taken place where it would be straining the language so to . .

Cited by:

Distinguished – Holmes v Governor of Brixton Prison and Another Admn 20-Aug-2004
The applicant sought his release from imprisonment where he awaited extradition to Germany. He was suspected of an offence of deception. He said there was insufficient evidence that the offence alleged would be an offence here. The alleged offence . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Sentencing, Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.200475

H was charged with the possession of firearms without a certificate.
Held: This was an absolute offence. Hussain was guilty because he knew he had the relevant article even though he did not know it was a firearm.

Citations:

[1972] Cr App R 143

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Atkins v Director of Public Prosecutions; Goodland v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 8-Mar-2000
For possession of an indecent image of a child to be proved, it was necessary to establish some knowledge of its existence. Images stored without the defendant’s knowledge by browser software in a hidden cache, of which he was also unaware, were not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.199232

The defendant appealed a conviction of possession of indecent pseudo-photographs of children. He said that he had not seen the image, and that though he had reason to know the images were indecent, he had no reason to know that they were of children.
Held: The defence in section 160(2)(b) succeeded if the defendant had not seen the pseudo-photograph and did not have reason to think it represented a child.

Judges:

Hoopper, LJ, Keith, Andrew Patience QC JJ

Citations:

Times 13-Jul-2004

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1988 160(1), Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 41(3), Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1984 84(4)(a) 84(4)(b) 86(1) 168(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Distinguished – Regina v Land CACD 10-Oct-1997
No expert medical evidence is needed with regard to the age of a child said to be the subject of an indecent photograph. Whether it is a child is not outside normal experience. The defendant had seen the photographs, and no defence was available . .
Cited – Atkins v Director of Public Prosecutions; Goodland v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 8-Mar-2000
For possession of an indecent image of a child to be proved, it was necessary to establish some knowledge of its existence. Images stored without the defendant’s knowledge by browser software in a hidden cache, of which he was also unaware, were not . .
Cited – Regina v Stamford 1972
The test of whether an article is indecent is an objective one. Words such as ‘insulting’, ‘serious’ or ‘obscene’, involve value judgments of which jurors are the arbiters par excellence without expert evidence. . .
Cited – Regina v Smethurst CACD 13-Apr-2001
As regards the offence of making indecent photographs of children, any intention of the defendant was irrelevant as to whether the photographs themselves were indecent. The defendant said he had obtained the images without any indecent intent, but . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.198718

Citations:

[1974] 59 Cr App R 80

Cited by:

Cited – Governor of Pentonville Prison ex parte Khubchandani QBD 1980
The court considered whether certain conduct, part of which took place in Ghana, would, mutatis mutandis , have constituted an offence over which the English court had jurisdiction.
Held: ‘Where a deception is made in this country, but the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.196566

US Treasury social security orders were stolen in the USA, and brought to London, where they were endorsed at a bank for payment in the USA.
Held: On those facts the ‘acceptance’ of the bills could only have taken place in the USA, and therefore there was no jurisdiction to try charges of execution of the bills, by such acceptance, under section 20(2).

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ

Citations:

[1987] 1 WLR 265, [1987] 1 All ER 650, (1987) 84 Cr App R 125

Statutes:

Theft Act 1968 20(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Distinguished – Regina v Beck CACD 1984
Stolen travellers’ cheques were cashed in France and then presented through normal banking channels to a bank in England. The first and main ground of appeal was that no offence had been thereby committed within the jurisdiction of the Crown Court, . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Manning CACD 24-Jun-1998
The defendant appealed his conviction for obtaining property by deception where part of the offence had taken place abroad.
Held: Smith should be overturned. The last act or terminatory theory remains the binding common law of England and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.196561

The defendant was charged with doing acts calculated to interfere with the peace and comfort of residential occupiers so as to cause them to give up their occupation contrary to section 1(3)(a) of the 1977 Act. The defendant contended that he did not know that the person harassed was a residential occupier, and that accordingly he could not be liable unless the prosecution proved that he did.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Once the issue was raised, it was necessary for the Crown to prove that the defendant did not honestly believe that the victim was a residential occupier. A prosecutor under section 1(3) of the 1977 Act must establish that the defendant did not honestly believe that the person harassed was not a residential occupier.

Citations:

[1981] 1 WLR 1117, [1981] 3 All ER 1117

Statutes:

Protection from Eviction Act 1977 1(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Limited – Regina v Morgan HL 30-Apr-1975
The defendants appealed against their convictions for rape, denying mens rea and asserting a belief (even if mistaken) that the victim had consented.
Held: For a defence of mistake to succeed, the mistake must have been honestly made and need . .
Cited – Norton v Knowles 1969
The court made the distinction between a mistaken belief as to the facts and a mistaken belief as to the law, pointing out that the latter ‘is, of course, not relevant or available as a ‘defence”. . .

Cited by:

Dicta doubted – Regina v Kimber CACD 1983
For mens rea, it is the defendant’s belief, not the grounds on which it is based, which goes to negative the intent. The guilty state of mind was the intent to use personal violence to a woman without her consent. If the defendant did not so intend, . .
Cited – B (A Minor) v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 23-Feb-2000
Prosecution to prove absence of genuine belief
To convict a defendant under the 1960 Act, the prosecution had the burden of proving the absence of a genuine belief in the defendant’s mind that the victim was 14 or over. The Act itself said nothing about any mental element, so the assumption must . .
Cited – West Wiltshire District Council v Snelgrove and Snelgrove Admn 17-Mar-1997
The council appealed against the acquittal of the defendants of offences under the 1977 Act. The occupiers were there under an informal temporary tenancy. The owners wished to move back in. The tenants had not left on the day appointed and on the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.195979

The parties to the marriage were living apart, and the wife had taken the husband to court for domestic violence, and the court had accepted his undertaking not further to molest her. He later had intercourse with her and appealed against his conviction for rape.
Held: The proceedings had been enough to revoke any consent implied by the wife by virtue of the marriage and the conviction stood.

Citations:

(1976) 65 Cr App R 22

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v R HL 23-Oct-1991
H has no right to sexual intercourse with W – rape
The defendant appealed against his conviction for having raped his wife, saying that intercourse with his wife was necessarily lawful, and therefore outside the statutory definition of rape. Due to the matrimonial difficulties, the wife had left . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.194948

The appellant challenged his conviction for charges of attempted rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on his then wife to which he had pleaded guilty after the trial judge ruled that he could be convicted of rape on his wife.
Held: The appeal failed.

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ, Sir Stephen Brown P, Watkins, Neill and Russell LJJ

Citations:

[1991] 2 All ER 257, [1991] 2 WLR 1065

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appealed to – Regina v R HL 23-Oct-1991
H has no right to sexual intercourse with W – rape
The defendant appealed against his conviction for having raped his wife, saying that intercourse with his wife was necessarily lawful, and therefore outside the statutory definition of rape. Due to the matrimonial difficulties, the wife had left . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v R HL 23-Oct-1991
H has no right to sexual intercourse with W – rape
The defendant appealed against his conviction for having raped his wife, saying that intercourse with his wife was necessarily lawful, and therefore outside the statutory definition of rape. Due to the matrimonial difficulties, the wife had left . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.194949

In order to establish possession of a controlled drug the Crown merely had to prove that the appellant had the bag in his possession and that the bag in fact contained a controlled drug, in this case cocaine. Thereafter the burden was cast upon the appellant to bring himself within section 28 and prove, on the balance of probabilities, that he did not know that the bag contained a controlled drug. Section 28(3) would be the basis upon which the appellant, if believed by the jury, could be acquitted in a case where he said that he thought that a cardboard box, which was on his motorcycle, contained pornographic or pirate videos rather than the 20 Kilos of cannabis resin which it in fact contained.

Judges:

Lord Lane C.J

Citations:

(1988) 87 Cr App R 246

Statutes:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 28

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Lambert HL 5-Jul-2001
Restraint on Interference with Burden of Proof
The defendant had been convicted for possessing drugs found on him in a bag when he was arrested. He denied knowing of them. He was convicted having failed to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that he had not known of the drugs. The case was . .
Cited – Salmon and Moore v Her Majesty’s Advocate HCJ 13-Nov-1998
The court considered the burden of proof placed on the prosecution under s28 of the 1971 Act.
Held: ‘Subsections (2) and (3) of Section 28 are both designed to come into play at a stage when the Crown have proved all that they need to prove in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.194982

The parties to the marriage were living separately under a deed of separation. The husband appealed a conviction for rape.
Held: The deed was enough to establish that the husband could not rely upon any implied consent by his wife as a defence.

Citations:

[1986] Crim LR 188

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v R HL 23-Oct-1991
H has no right to sexual intercourse with W – rape
The defendant appealed against his conviction for having raped his wife, saying that intercourse with his wife was necessarily lawful, and therefore outside the statutory definition of rape. Due to the matrimonial difficulties, the wife had left . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.194946

Citations:

(1987) 86 Cr App R 339

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v R HL 23-Oct-1991
H has no right to sexual intercourse with W – rape
The defendant appealed against his conviction for having raped his wife, saying that intercourse with his wife was necessarily lawful, and therefore outside the statutory definition of rape. Due to the matrimonial difficulties, the wife had left . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.194943

Four members of the Ulster Volunteer Force had combined to inflict punishment on an allegedly delinquent member of the organisation. The punishment was to consist of knee-capping (the firing of a bullet or bullets into a knee or other joint, so as to cripple but not kill the victim) and a beating. In the event the victim died. Several bullets caused wounds which could, but need not, have proved fatal. The cause of his death was the extremely forceful cutting of his throat. The court considered the liability of secondary party defendants for murder within a joint enterprise.
Held: The court rejected the prosecution argument that since there was an intention to inflict grievous bodily harm, and that satisfied the mens rea requirement of murder, the deliberate killing of the victim was not very different in kind from what was contemplated. Carswell J said that they ‘must be taken to have had within their contemplation the possibility that life might be put at risk. The issue is whether it follows as a consequence that they cannot be heard to say that the murder was a different crime from the attack which they contemplated, and so cannot escape liability for the murder an the ground that it was outside the common design. To accept this type of reasoning would be to fix an accessory with consequences of his acts which he did not foresee and did not desire or intend. The modern development of the criminal law has been away from such an approach and towards a greater emphasis on subjective tests of criminal guilt, as Sir Robin Cooke pointed out in Chan Wing-Siu. Although the rule remains well entrenched that an intention to inflict grievous bodily harm qualifies as the mens rea of murder, it is not in my opinion necessary to apply it in such a way as to fix an accessory with liability for a consequence which he did not intend and which stems from an act which he did not have within his contemplation. I do not think that the state of the law compels me to reach such a conclusion, and it would not in my judgment accord with the public sense of what is just and fitting.’

Judges:

Carswell J

Citations:

[1989] NI 268

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Cited by:

Dicta approved – Regina v Powell and Davies 1998
. .
Cited – Regina v Jenkins and Another CACD 14-Feb-2002
The decision in Smith (Morgan) does not prevent use of the expression ‘the reasonable man’ in the judge’s summing-up, in Weller, when considering how a jury should be directed on provocation, the court plainly regarded the relevant question as being . .
Cited – Rahman and Others, Regina v HL 2-Jul-2008
The defendants appealed against their convictions for murder. None had themselves inflicted any violence, but were convicted as part of a joint enterprise. They said they had not known that the principal carried a knife. They said that the evidence . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.188890

(Canada) A man cannot be ‘armed with his own finger’.

Citations:

(1974) 19 CCC (2d) 190

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Bentham CACD 5-Dec-2003
In the course of a robbery the defendant had held his finger in his pocket to suggest that he was pointing a gun at the victim. He now appealed against a conviction for possession of an imitation firearm.
Held: The defendant could not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.188703

There can be no conspiracy to defraud at common law where the object of the contended conspiracy would be impossible to perform.

Citations:

[1978] AC 979

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Gleeson CACD 16-Oct-2003
At the close of the prosecution case, the defendant’s counsel submitted that, following Nock, there was no case to answer. The prosecution sought to amend the indictment by adding an allegation of a statutory conspiracy, and to re-open the case, but . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.187389

The defendant appealed against a conviction for having a knife in a public place. He had been in his front garden.
Held: Persons such as the postman or milkman who have an implied licence to enter the garden do so not as members of the public but rather as lawful visitors. The front garden of this particular property, a Victorian terraced house, was a public place. The garden was no more than a metre wide, and the appellant could sit on the windowsill of the front room and put his feet on the top of the garden wall. Having regard to the purpose of the legislation, a public place was not merely land to which the public was permitted access but might also include land adjacent to areas where the public had access, provided that the harm against which the section was designed to provide protection could still be inflicted from such a place, and here it was perfectly possible for the appellant standing in his own garden to use the knife against a passing pedestrian.

Judges:

Diplock LJ, Bridge LJ

Citations:

[1978] 67 Crim App Rep 228

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Roberts CACD 20-Oct-2003
The appellant appealed against his conviction for having a bladed article in a public place. Police called at his home, and the ensuing struggle came out into the garden where he was arrested. He was later found to have the knife in his pocket.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.187009

The defendant caused damage to a car. The appeal turned on the trial judge’s direction on the meaning of ‘reckless’.
Held: The conviction was set aside. The judge had not adequately explained that the test to be applied was that of the defendant’s state of mind. ‘A man is reckless in the sense required when he carries out a deliberate act knowing that there is some risk of damage resulting from that act but nevertheless continues in the performance of that act.’

Judges:

James LJ, Kenneth Jones and Pain JJ

Citations:

[1977] 1 WLR 605

Statutes:

Criminal Damage Act 1971 1

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v G and R HL 16-Oct-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 . .
Cited – Regina v Parker (Daryl) CACD 1977
In a temper the defendant broke a telephone by smashing the handset violently down on to the telephone unit.
Held: Applying but modifying Briggs, the defendant had been fully aware of all the circumstances and, if ‘he did not know, as he said . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police v Caldwell HL 19-Mar-1981
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.186784

The court gave standard directions for the jury in a case where the defendant pleaded duress.

Citations:

[1982] 1 WLR 294

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Approved – Regina v Safi (Ali Ahmed); Regina v Ghayur; Regina v Shah; Regina v Showaib; Regina v Mohammidy; Regina v Shohab; Regina v Ahmadi; Regina v Safi (Mahammad Nasir); Regina v Kazin CACD 6-Jun-2003
The defendants appealed convictions after rejection of their defence of duress. They had hijacked an aeroplane in Afghanistan, and surrendered eventually at Stansted. They said they were acting under duress, believing they had no other way of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.183352

Citations:

[1977] 1 WLR 1129

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Dimond v Lovell CA 29-Apr-1999
Mrs Dimond had a car accident as a result of Mr Lovell’s negligence and sought to recover from him the cost of the hire of a replacement vehicle while her car was being repaired. Under clause 5 of the hire agreement the hire company had the conduct . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.183311

Possession does not depend upon the alleged possessor’s powers of memory. Nor does possession come and go as memory revives or fails. ‘In the judgment of this court [that the argument that lack of memory or knowledge negatives possession is fallacious], it is true that a man does not necessarily possess every article which he may have in his pocket. If for example some evil-minded person secretly slips a portion of cannabis resin into the pocket of another without the other’s knowledge, the other is not in law in possession of the cannabis. That scarcely needs stating. But the present situation is different. Here the applicant himself put the cannabis into his wallet knowing what it was and put the wallet into his pocket. In our judgment, subject to the authorities to which reference will have to be made in a moment, he remained in possession even though his memory of the presence of the drug had failed or disappeared altogether. Possession does not depend upon the alleged possessor’s powers of memory. Nor does possession come and go as memory revives or fails. If it were to do so, a man with a poor memory would be acquitted. He with the good memory would be convicted.’

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ

Citations:

[1986] 84 Cr App R 31

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Not Cited – Buswell, Regina v CACD 1972
The defendant was accused of possession of drugs. The drugs in question had been medically prescribed by the defendant’s doctor. After he had taken them home he genuinely thought that they had been accidentally destroyed by his mother when washing . .

Cited by:

Cited – Jolie v Regina CACD 23-May-2003
The appellant had been convicted of having a pointed article with him in a public place. He said that the car he was driving had needed an instrument to operate the lock. At first he had used a knife, but then used scissors, losing the knife in the . .
Cited – McCalla, Regina v CACD 1988
A cosh had been found in the glove compartment of the appellant’s car. He said he had picked it up a month earlier, had put it away and had forgotten about it.
Held: The court reviewed the authorities on what constituted possession. Once . .
Cited – Bayliss, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 6-Feb-2003
The defendant was arrested in Tescos. On being searched he was found to have a lock knife. He had placed it in his belt and forgotten about it. He appealed conviction saying it had not been shown that he knew he still had the knife.
Held: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182749

Citations:

(1982) 76 Cr App R 23 CA

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Minors, Regina v Harper CACD 14-Dec-1988
In each case, the prosecution had produced a computer record to the court as evidence. The record was a computer print out. They challenged their convictions.
Held: To admit such evidence, the court had to see compliance with both sections. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182952

A cosh had been found in the glove compartment of the appellant’s car. He said he had picked it up a month earlier, had put it away and had forgotten about it.
Held: The court reviewed the authorities on what constituted possession. Once someone had or possessed something, he continued to have or possess it until he did something to rid himself of having or possessing it. Merely to have forgotten is not sufficient to exclude him from continuing to have or possess the object. ‘As to the law as stated in those four cases, one comment must first be made. In those concerning drugs, the consideration is that of possession. In those concerning offensive weapons, it is having them in a public place. To have something with one necessarily requires, we think, closer contact, as it were, with mere possession. Every case of ‘having’ is one of ‘possessing’, but it does not necessarily follow that every case of ‘possessing’ is one of ‘having’ within the meaning of the relevant statutory provisions. However, for the purposes of the instant case, and having regard to the earlier decisions to which we have referred, in our view, the relevant considerations as to recollection and forgetfulness are the same.’ and ‘we are quite satisfied that to have forgotten that one has an offensive weapon in the car that one is driving is not in itself a reasonable excuse under the Act. But when such forgetfulness is coupled with particular circumstances relating to the original acquisition of the article the combination of the original acquisition and the subsequent forgetfulness of possessing it may, given sufficient facts, be a reasonable excuse for having the offensive weapon with one.’

Judges:

May LJ

Citations:

[1988] 87 CR App R 372

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Cugullere, Regina v 1961
The defendant had been driving a motor-van when he was stopped by the police. In the back of the van there were found three pickaxe handles bound with adhesive tape. His defence was that he did not know that the implements were in the back of his . .
Cited – Buswell, Regina v CACD 1972
The defendant was accused of possession of drugs. The drugs in question had been medically prescribed by the defendant’s doctor. After he had taken them home he genuinely thought that they had been accidentally destroyed by his mother when washing . .
Per Incuriam – Regina v Russell 1985
Meaning of possession of an offending article . .
Cited – Regina v Martindale CACD 1986
Possession does not depend upon the alleged possessor’s powers of memory. Nor does possession come and go as memory revives or fails. ‘In the judgment of this court [that the argument that lack of memory or knowledge negatives possession is . .

Cited by:

Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Gregson QBD 23-Sep-1992
A knife fell from the defendant’s jeans during the course of a police search. He claimed to have forgotten about it.
Held: It is important to concentrate on the time in respect of which the defendant is charged. Six days earlier he had the . .
Cited – Jolie v Regina CACD 23-May-2003
The appellant had been convicted of having a pointed article with him in a public place. He said that the car he was driving had needed an instrument to operate the lock. At first he had used a knife, but then used scissors, losing the knife in the . .
Cited – Regina v Glidewell CACD 4-May-1999
Forgetfulness might be relevant as a defence on a charge of possessing an offensive weapon. A taxi driver discovered weapons left by a passenger, but forgot having placed them in a glove compartment.
Held: The Appeal was allowed.
Applied – Bayliss, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 6-Feb-2003
The defendant was arrested in Tescos. On being searched he was found to have a lock knife. He had placed it in his belt and forgotten about it. He appealed conviction saying it had not been shown that he knew he still had the knife.
Held: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182746

On a trial of sexual assault, the Court considered the difference between consent and submission in the victim.
Sodomy and indecent assault belong to the same family or class of offences,

Citations:

(1872) 12 Cox CC 180

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Brown (Anthony); Regina v Lucas; etc HL 11-Mar-1993
The appellants had been convicted of assault, after having engaged in consensual acts of sado-masochism in which they inflicted varying degreees of physical self harm. They had pleaded guilty after a ruling that the prosecution had not needed to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182260

The word ‘cocaine’ when used in Part I of Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is used in the generic sense so that it includes the specific forms, derivatives or preparations of it which come within the wording of paragraphs 2 to 5 of Part I of the Schedule.
Lawton LJ said: ‘It follows that ‘cocaine’ can be a natural substance or a substance resulting from a chemical transformation; but both substances are cocaine. In our judgment the word ‘cocaine’ as used in paragraph 1 is a generic word which includes within its ambit both the direct extracts of the coca leaf, the natural form, and whatever results from a chemical transformation. Paragraphs 2 to 5 of Part I of the Schedule, in our judgment, deal with the various kinds of substance which can result from chemical transformations. It is significant that in each of these paragraphs what is referred to is a chemical form ‘of a substance specified’. What sections 2 and 5(3) are dealing with are ‘substances or products’. This case is concerned with the substance ‘cocaine’ which may have a number of forms but they are still cocaine.’

Judges:

Lawton LJ

Citations:

[1983] 1 WLR 1124

Statutes:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – The Attorney General for the Cayman Islands v Roberts PC 21-Mar-2002
(Cayman Islands) The Attorney General appealed against the overturning of a conviction of the defendant for the supply of drugs. A substance had been found under a stone in the defendant’s yard, which had been certified to contain cocaine . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182414

The trial judge declined to direct the jury that the defendants were entitled to be acquitted if the jury decided that they were indulging in ‘rough’ and undisciplined sport or play, not intending to cause harm, and genuinely believing that the injuries which occurred in the course of the horseplay occurred with the victim’s consent.

Citations:

(1986) 83 Cr App R 375 CA

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Brown (Anthony); Regina v Lucas; etc HL 11-Mar-1993
The appellants had been convicted of assault, after having engaged in consensual acts of sado-masochism in which they inflicted varying degreees of physical self harm. They had pleaded guilty after a ruling that the prosecution had not needed to . .
Cited – Konzani, Regina v CACD 17-Mar-2005
The defendant appealed conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm on three women, by having unprotected sexual intercourse knowing that he was HIV positive, but without telling the women. Each contracted HIV. The allegation was that he had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182255

A policeman was attacked on the staircase of someone’s home. Grundy arrived within a few seconds and joined in the attack including headbutting the police officer. The assault continued when the police officer was knocked to the ground. It could not be said whether the victim’s nose had been broken before or after he had joined the attack. G had argued that the broken nose was the relevant serious injury and the trial judge’s directions were that it was the totality of the injury suffered which could amount to grievous bodily harm if the jury so thought and it did not matter that the attack by Grundy’s co-defendants began a few seconds before he joined in.
Held: Grundy was aiding the commission of the offence as soon as he joined in and there was ample evidence that the police officer sustained grievous bodily harm in the attack in which all three participated.
A person can withdraw until the acts of the principal offender reach the stage of an attempt.

Citations:

(1989) 89 Cr App R 333

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Percival CACD 13-May-2003
The defendant appealed a conviction for wounding. He had been involved in a joint enterprise with others in an assault. After the wound had been made, the defendant had himself assaulted the victim, but not to the extent of causing injury.
Cited – Press and Another v Regina CACD 24-Oct-2013
Three defendants appealed against their convictions of assault. One defendant argued that the court did not direct the jury as to the effect of intoxication and/or post-traumatic stress disorder upon the issue of intent, and as to whether and to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182506

Citations:

[1993] 97 Cr App R 365

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Mason, Wood, McClelland, Tierney v Regina CACD 13-Feb-2002
The appellants appealed their convictions on two grounds. First the judge who had heard the case was an acquaintance of the chief constable of the investigating force, and second evidence had been admitted of tape recordings of non-privileged . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.182194

Appeal from conviction of murder on grounds that: ‘The first is how a jury ought to be directed where there is evidence that the accused’s actions may have been caused by either his mental condition, or his ingestion of drink and drugs, or both. The second relates to the manner in which a jury should be directed when there is a burden of proof on the defence using the standard of balance of probabilities’

Citations:

[2019] ScotHC HCJAC – 27

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Scotland

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.652480

The justices had decided that a diabetic motorist charged with dangerous driving, and saying that he had done so during a hypo-glycaemic episode, should be acquitted on the ground that he was in a state of automatism. The prosecution appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The justices, had they directed themselves correctly as to the effect of the evidence, should not have come to the conclusion that at the material time for the purposes of this charge there had occurred such a complete destruction of voluntary control as could constitute in law automatism.

Judges:

Lord Parker CJ, Streatfield, Winn, Widgery, Brabin JJ

Citations:

[1962] 2 QB 572

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Quick CACD 18-Apr-1973
The defendant appealed against his conviction for assault. He had pleaded guilty after a ruling by the judge as to the meaning of the phrase ‘a defect of reason, from disease of the mind’ within the meaning of the M’Naughten Rules. More particularly . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.539361

Lord Mansfield said that: ‘a man accepting an office of trust concerning the public, especially if attended with profit, is answerable criminally to the King for misbehaviour in his office; this is true, by whomever and in whatever way the officer is appointed’.

Judges:

Lord Mansfield

Citations:

(1783) 99 ER 679

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Cosford and Others CACD 16-Apr-2013
The appellants, female prison workers, appealed against their convictions for misconduct in public office having been found to have engaged in sexual activity with male prisoners.
Held: The appeals were dismissed: ‘Nothing in the authorities . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.513539

HHJ Head said: that ‘merely acting in ways which would otherwise be lawful but which constitute a breach of an Restraint Order cannot amount to the necessary ingredients of Perverting’.

Judges:

HHJ Head

Citations:

Unreported, 11 Oct 2011

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1988 77

Cited by:

Distinguished – Kenny v Regina CACD 30-Jan-2013
The appellant had made a loan to a third party defendant in criminal fraud proceedings. At the time he did not know that that third party was subject to a restraint order under the 2002 Act. When he did come to know of the order he was asked to say . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.470686

The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder, where no body had been found.
Held: The court approved the direction given by the judge (Oliver J): ‘If he did not die by natural causes, he was killed. Members of the jury, if he was killed his body was concealed or destroyed and has not been found. It he is dead and was killed and the body was destroyed or concealed, he was murdered, was he not? That is the point. I want you to apply your minds to that set of circumstances, and decide for yourselves whether in the light of those facts, and many more to which I shall have to draw your attention, you can say that you are satisfied that no rational hypothesis except that he is dead, dead by violence, is open. If you are driven to that conclusion, that would be a verdict of murder; but if you think that that would be going too far, and that you could not safely say that no rational explanation of his death except murder could be conceived, why then it will mean that you have a doubt about it, and you will acquit him.’
Lord Goddard CJ said: ‘it is equally clear that the fact of death, like any other fact, can be proved by circumstantial evidence, that is to say, evidence of facts which lead to one conclusion, provided that the jury are satisfied and are warned that it must lead to one conclusion only.’ and ‘here there are facts which point inevitably, as it is said irresistibly, towards the appellant being the person who knows what happened to the missing man and who disposed of that man in one way or another. It may be that it would have been desirable to emphasise to the jury that the first thing to which they must apply their minds was whether a murder had been committed; but, speaking for myself, I think that the way the judge put it in the two passages which I have read did sufficiently direct the attention of the jury to the fact that they had to be satisfied of that, and that if they were satisfied of the death, the violent death, of this man they need not go any further.’

Judges:

Lord Goddard CJ

Citations:

[1955] 1 QB 388, [1955] 2 WLR 273, (1955) 39 Cr App R 1

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.464722

The offence of absconding whilst on bail has never constituted a contempt of court. Even so it is punishable as if it were contempt.

Judges:

Leggatt J

Citations:

(1987) 84 Cr App R 294

Statutes:

Bail Act 19767

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Lubega CACD 1-Feb-1999
The defendant appealed against his sentence of 28 days imprisonment for contempt of court. He was late to court and warned that if he was late on the following day it would be treated as contempt. He was so late, and in his absence the judge made . .
Cited – Evans, Regina v CACD 16-Nov-2011
The defendant came to court, and his counsel informed the court of this, but then he left. Had he surrendered to his bail? He surrendered and was taken to court. He pleaded guilty to the Bail Act offence and was sentenced, but then was allowed to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.450418

Premises were used for the performance of acts which were ‘seriously indecent and, in some respects, revolting’, and the public was invited to resort to the premises for indulging in ‘perverted and revolting practices’.
Held: The conviction for keeping a disorderly house was upheld.

Citations:

[1962] 2 QB 24

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Court, Regina v CACD 9-Feb-2012
The defendants appealed against their convictions under common law for keeping a disorderly house. They were landlords using an agreement requiring the tenant not to be used for immoral purposes. There was evidence of limited sexual activity. Only . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.451142

Section 8(1) of the SOA creates two basic offences. In the first case a defendant must intentionally cause a child (B) to engage in ‘sexual activity’. In the second a defendant must intentionally incite a child (B) to engage in ‘sexual activity’. In the latter case the essence of the offence is the intentional ‘incitement’, that is the intentional seeking to bring about something by encouragement or persuasion, by the defendant.

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 1907

Statutes:

Sexual Offences Act 2003 8(1)

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Grout CACD 1-Mar-2011
The defendant appealed against conviction of intentionally causing a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Held: The conviction was quashed. The evidence did not establish one of the essential elements for a conviction. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.430354

Upon two indictments, the one for murther, the other upon the Statute of Stabbing; it was found specially, that before 15 Junii, which was the time laid in the indictment, the prisoner hired Wells, now killed, into his service as a gardiner, that 15 Junii, Wells being then in his service, the prisoner sent another servant to Wells to fetch the key of his garden, with an intent to discharge Wells from his service; Wells refused to send the key, the other servant told Keat, that Wells refused, andc. super quo Keat fetched his sword, came into the kitchen and expostulated with Wells concerning the key, WelIs said he should have it if he would ; upon this Keat drew his sword and struck Wells, and cut him on the head with it ; Wells endeavoured to have struck Keat with a sney’d (or handle) of a scythe, but the rack of a chimney was in the way, but he punch’d him with the sney’d, and followed him into the middle of the room punching at him, then Keat run him thro’ the body, whereof he died.
Cowper pro Rege. The verdict is not well as to the time, but I must take the several facts to succeed one another in the same order as they are set down in the verdict.

Citations:

[1724] EngR 520, (1724) Comb 406, (1724) 90 ER 557 (B)

Links:

Commonlii

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.389624

Giving a false story to the police in relation to a criminal offence resulting in the arrest of another can constitute the offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Citations:

[1977] 65 CAR 174

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Cotter and Others CACD 10-May-2002
The defendants appealed against convictions for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. They said that the fact that an investigation followed a false allegation was insufficient to found a complaint, and that the extent of the crime was so . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.383659

The defendant actor had shot his best friend when, in jest and without any intention of doing any harm or firing a bullet, he pulled the trigger of a revolver. There were no bullets opposite the barrel and he had not realised that the mechanism would rotate and fire the bullets that were in the revolving cylinder. His defence was one of accident. He was convicted of manslaughter on the basis that death had resulted from his grossly negligent act and his unlawful and dangerous act. The judge had taken the view that the pointing of the revolver and the pulling of the trigger was unlawful even if there was no attempt to alarm or intention to injure.
Held:
Held: The appeal succeeded. In the circumstances there was no assault, because there was no intent to commit any assault or battery by the accused against the victim. Manslaughter was not established except by proving that element of intent without which there could be no assault.
Sachs LJ said: ‘mens rea being now an essential ingredient in manslaughter (compare Andrews v DPP and R v Church that could not be established in relation to [unlawful act manslaughter] except by proving that element of intent without which there can be no assault.’
‘dangerousness’ depends on the assessment of ‘all sober and reasonable people’

Judges:

Sachs LJ

Citations:

[1967] 2 QB 981, [1967] 2 All ER 1282

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – O’Connor, Regina (On the Application of) v HM Coroner for District of Avon and Another Admn 7-May-2009
Two children died when their father jumped with them from a hotel balcony. The father had been acquitted in Crete of manslaughter after evidence of his psychiatric condition. The applicant now challenged the English coroner’s verdict of unlawful . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.342124

The defendant had reconnected his electricity meter after it had been disconnected by the supply company for non-payment of bills.
Held: The defendant’s beliefs as to his honesty were crucial to the decision whether he was honest or not.

Citations:

[1978] 2 All ER 1061

Statutes:

Theft Act 1968

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.341785

The removal of a part of a knitting frame was damaging the frame ‘although the part taken out was not injured, and the replacing it would again make the frame perfect’ on the ground that ‘it made the frame imperfect and inoperative’.

Citations:

[1821] EngR 45, (1821) Russ and Ry 452, (1821) 168 ER 893

Links:

Commonlii

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.329631

A count in an indictment is good which simply charges that defendants, unlawfully, andc., did conspire, combine, confederate and agree together, by divers false pretences and indirect means to cheat and defraud R. of his moneys. Where an indictment for conspiracy Contains several counts, if only a single conspiracy be proved, the verdict may nevertheless be taken on so many of the counts as describe the conspiracy consistently with the proof. In the course of proving a conspiracy to defraud, carried into effect by prevailing upon the prosecutor to accept bills, a warrant of attorrney, given to him for the purpose of inducing him to accept, reciting the acceptance may be given in evidence though unstamped. An indictment for conspiring to defraud the the prosecutor may be supported by proof of a conspiracy to obtain his acceptances, though the prosecutor part with no money, and though he never has intended to take up the acceptances, and though the bills were never in his hands except for the purpose of his accepting. Where all of several defendants in an indictment for conspiracy are found guilty, if one of them shew himself entitled to a new trial on grounds not affect ing the others, the new trial will nevertheless be granted as to all.

Citations:

[1846] EngR 1219, (1847) 9 QB 824, (1846) 115 ER 1491

Links:

Commonlii

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.303114

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 therefore too remote from the ultimate fraudulent use of their products to be guilty of conspiring to aid and abet, even if such an offence existed.

Judges:

Hodgson J

Citations:

[1985] 1 All ER 850

Statutes:

Criminal Law Act 1977 1(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v Hollinshead; Dettlaff, Griffiths HL 2-Jan-1985
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 . .
Cited – Regina v Kenning, Blackshaw, Fenwick CACD 24-Jun-2008
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.278580

There must be some deceit spoken, written or acted to constitute a false pretence.

Citations:

[1898] 1 QB 119

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Ray HL 25-Jul-1973
The defendant ordered a meal at a restaurant believing his companion would lend him the money to pay. He later decided to seek to avoid payment and took a opportunity to escape.
Held: The appeal was allowed and the conviction restored. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.272831

False imprisonment is a common law offence, defined as consisting in ‘the unlawful and intentional or reckless restraint of a victim’s freedom of movement from a particular place. In other words it is unlawful detention which stops the victim moving away as he would wish to move.’

Citations:

[1985] 81 Cr App R 349

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Meaden Admn 1-Dec-2003
The defendant had been charged with assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty. The prosecutor appealed a finding of no case to answer. He had been present in a house when the police executed search warrants. He had refused to obey an . .
Cited – Craik, Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, Regina (on The Application of) v Newcastle Upon Tyne Magistrates’ Court Admn 30-Apr-2010
The claimant a retired Chief Constable sought judicial review of a decision to commit him for trial on a charge of unlawful imprisonment. The suspect and now prosecutor had been arrested and held in custody, but without the necessary timely review . .
Cited – Regina v Hutchins CACD 1988
The defendant was at a party where he took a range of drugs. He was accused of attacking one girl, and then imprisoning another with a neighbour. He appealed against his convictions for unlawful imprisonment and kidnapping.
Held: The appeal . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.272771

Appeal by case stated against conviction for possession of firearm – BB gun – whether imitation firearm.

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 2183 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Firearms Act 1968 57(4)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.244854

A 15 year old defendant was accused of sexual intercourse with a 12 year old complainant, the prosecutor abandoned the charge under section 5 and substituted one under section 13 as it appeared that the conduct in question was consensual.

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 2231 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v G (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening) HL 18-Jun-2008
The defendant was fifteen. He was convicted of statutory rape of a 13 year old girl, believing her to be 15. He appealed saying that as an offence of strict liability he had been denied a right to a fair trial, and also that the offence charged was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.244850

Citations:

Times 03-Apr-2001, (2001) 2 Cr App R (S)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Pisciotto CACD 27-Jun-2002
The defendant was subject to a confiscation order. The judge had postponed the determination of the amount, but without specifying when it would take place.
Held: The requirement in the Act was mandatory. When deciding to postpone an . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.182073

The offence of producing a false instrument was committed when a document was used which relied for its validity upon underlying factual circumstances, and those circumstances did not, in fact, exist. A driver produced a tachograph record which suggested that he had not been driving at a certain time when he had, and the record had been manipulated to produce the effect. The absence of the underlying factual background meant that the document told a lie about itself. In this case the tachograph record suggested that another driver had driven, and that was untrue.

Citations:

Times 28-Nov-2000

Statutes:

Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 9(1)(g)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.78001

Identification evidence challenge on conviction of murder

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Crim 1606

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.441301

Citations:

[1964] 1 QB 285

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Morgan HL 30-Apr-1975
The defendants appealed against their convictions for rape, denying mens rea and asserting a belief (even if mistaken) that the victim had consented.
Held: For a defence of mistake to succeed, the mistake must have been honestly made and need . .
Cited – Regina v Morgan HL 30-Apr-1975
The defendants appealed against their convictions for rape, denying mens rea and asserting a belief (even if mistaken) that the victim had consented.
Held: For a defence of mistake to succeed, the mistake must have been honestly made and need . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.258672

Citations:

[2007] ScotSC 25

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Antisocial Behavior etc (Scotland) Act 2004

Jurisdiction:

Scotland

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.259473

Collins J considered the words of the statute: ‘It is obvious that the purpose of the Act is in every way to make it illegitimate for persons to do that which by the policy of the law can only be done by, or with the authority of, the Crown; the section therefore deals with as many possible ways of interfering with the monopoly of the Crown as occurred to the draftsman of the Act.’

Judges:

Collins J

Citations:

[1896] 2 QB 310

Statutes:

Post Office (Protection) Act 1884

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Heron; Regina v Storey; Regina v Thomas HL 25-Mar-1982
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy to counterfeit gold coins. They said no evidence had been brought to suggest their intention to commit any dishonest act. The House was asked whether the offence was one of specific or . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.258439

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 2041

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.245043

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 2194

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.245328

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 1545

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.244211

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 1900

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.243982

The prosecutor appealed a finding of no case to answer on an accusation of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The victim, a police officer, was searching the pockets of an arrested person, when she was injured by a hypodermic needle. She had asked him if he had any sharps on him and he had denied it. The Crown Court judge found no evidence of ‘(positive) act on the part of the defendant capable of amounting to the actus reus of the offence of assault.’
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. ‘A great deal of undesirable complexity has bedevilled our criminal law as a result of quasi theological distinctions between acts and omissions.’ The court proposed that ‘where someone (by act or word or a combination of the two) creates a danger and thereby exposes another to a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury which materialises, there is an evidential basis for the actus reus of an assault occasioning actual bodily harm. It remains necessary for the prosecution to prove an intention to assault or appropriate recklessness. ‘

Judges:

Maurice Kay J, Mackay

Citations:

[2003] EWHC 2908 (Admin), [2004] Crim LR 471

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 1

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Fagan v Metropolitan Commissioner 31-Jul-1968
The defendant was told by a police officer to park up his car. He did so, but stopped with his wheel, trapping the officer’s foot. The magistrates were unable to decide whether the parking on the officer’s foot was deliberate, but agreed that . .
Cited – Regina v Roberts 1971
The complainant travelled in the appellant’s car. As he was driving, he had assaulted her in the car but not so as to cause her actual bodily harm. However, as his assault continued, she opened the car door and jumped out. This caused her to sustain . .
Cited – Regina v Clarence CCCR 20-Nov-1888
The defendant knew that he had gonorrhea. He had intercourse with his wife, and infected her. She would not have consented had she known. He appealed his convictions for assault and causing grievous bodily harm.
Held: ‘The question in this . .
Cited – Regina v Miller HL 17-Mar-1982
The defendant, a vagrant, fell asleep in an empty house. His lighted cigarette fell onto his mattress, and a fire started. Rather than put it out, he moved to another room. He was accused of arson.
Held: He was guilty. A defendant would be . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v K (a Minor) QBD 1990
The defendant a schoolboy aged 15 had spilled some acid during a chemistry lesson. He went to wash his hands, but took a test tube of acid with him. Hearing others coming and panicking, he poured it into an upturned hot air drier. He returned to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.189126

Three men, alleged by the Crown to be supporters of the IRA, armed with weapons, went to the house of an army officer at night. When he opened the door one of them shot him. Two were convicted of murder; the third, Reid, was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter. All three were also convicted of joint possession of a revolver, knife and imitation gun. His defence had been that he was not part of the joint venture but had gone along with them in order to see whether the other two were really IRA terrorists, which he did not believe they were. The judge had given the jury a direction on manslaughter based upon Church.
Held: The appeal failed.
Lawton LJ said: ‘In Anderson and Morris . . a distinction was drawn between a mere unforeseen consequence of an unlawful act and an ‘overwhelmingly supervening event which is of such a character that it will relegate into history matters which would otherwise be looked upon as causative factors’; see the judgment of Lord Parker CJ at . . 120. Was O’Conaill’s deliberate firing of the revolver ‘a mere unforeseen consequence’ of the unlawful possession of offensive weapons? We adjudge it was. When two or more men go out together in joint possession of offensive weapons such as revolvers and knives and the circumstances are such as to justify an inference that the very least they intend to do with them is to use them to cause fear in another, there is, in our judgment, always a likelihood that, in the excitement and tensions of the occasion, one of them will use the weapon in some way which will cause death or serious injury. If such injury was not intended by the others, they must be acquitted of murder; but having started out on an enterprise which envisaged some degree of violence, albeit nothing more than causing fright, they will be guilty of manslaughter.’

Judges:

Lawton, Geoffrey Lane LJJ and Robert Goff J

Citations:

(1976) 62 Cr App R 109

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Stewart and Another, Regina v CACD 10-Nov-1994
Hobhouse LJ said: ‘The question whether the relevant act was committed in the course of carrying out the joint enterprise in which the defendant was a participant is a question of fact not law. If the act was not so committed then the joint . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.553627