Category: Crime

Rex v Levett: 1638

(Newgate Sessions) The defendant thought there were intruders in his house, and killed the deceased woman mistaking her for one of them. A servant had hidden the woman visitor. William Levett not knowing the said Frances to be there in the buttery, hastily entered therein with his drawn rapier, and being in the dark and thrusting with his rapier before him thrust the said Frances under the left breast. and it was resolved that it was not manslaughter; for he did it ignorantly, without intention of hurt to the side Frances.

Judges:

Jones J

Citations:

(1638) Cro Car 538

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 30 March 2022; Ref: scu.655558

Wilcox v Jeffery: KBD 1951

The appellant attended a jazz concert being given by a saxophonist whom he knew had entered the country illegally. The appellant, who was the owner of a music magazine, was held to have been properly convicted of the immigration offence committed by the saxophonist, on the basis of aiding and abetting because he was not only present at the concert, but paid an admission fee and later published in his magazine an article and photos lauding the saxophonist’s performance.
However, the mere presence alone of the inciter or aider on the commission of the offence was insufficient to act as an encouragement and that there must on behalf of the secondary party be an intention to encourage, or actually encourage beyond an accidental presence at the scene of the crime.

Judges:

Lord Goddard CJ

Citations:

[1951] 1 All ER 464, 115 JP 151

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 30 March 2022; Ref: scu.655556

Al Rabbat v Westminster Magistrates’ Court: Admn 31 Jul 2017

The claimant appealed against refusal of an application for judicial review in turn of a refusal to allow private prosecutions of Tony Blair, Jack Straw and Lord Goldsmith in respect of their involvement in the war in Iraq, and the alleged crime of aggression.
Held: The international crime of aggression was established but it remained not a crime in England and Wales. The international crime itself only came to be defined after the war was long concluded. There was no prospect of the Supreme Court overturning the decision in Jones.

Judges:

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, CJ, Ouseley J

Citations:

[2017] EWHC 1969 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Knuller (Publishing, Printing and Promotions) Ltd; Knuller etc v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 1972
The defendants were charged after pasting up in telephone booths advertisements for homosexual services. They published a magazine with similar advertisements. The House was asked to confirm the existence of an offence of outraging public decency. . .
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 – Horton v Sadler and Another HL 14-Jun-2006
The claimant had been injured in a road traffic accident for which the defendant was responsible in negligence. The defendant was not insured, and so a claim was to be made against the MIB. The plaintiff issued proceedings just before the expiry of . .
Cited – Keyu and Others v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Another SC 25-Nov-2015
The Court was asked whether the respondents should be required to hold a public inquiry into a controversial series of events in 1948, when a Scots Guards patrol was alleged to shot and killed 24 unarmed civilians in a village called Batang Kali, in . .
Established – Regina v Jones (Margaret), Regina v Milling and others HL 29-Mar-2006
Domestic Offence requires Domestic Defence
Each defendant sought to raise by way of defence of their otherwise criminal actions, the fact that they were attempting to prevent the commission by the government of the crime of waging an aggressive war in Iraq, and that their acts were . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 29 March 2022; Ref: scu.593596

Saunders and Others v Regina: CACD 28 Jun 2013

Appeals against sentence a non mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
Held: There may be cases where a discretionary life sentence is justified for an offence outside Schedule 15 if its gravity and the danger presented by the defendant are sufficient
There can be cases where a discretionary life sentence is justified for an offence outside Schedule 15 if its gravity and the danger presented by the defendant are sufficient

Citations:

[2014] Cr App R (S) 258, [2013] EWCA Crim 1027

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Docherty, Regina v SC 14-Dec-2016
After conviction on his own admission for wounding with intent, and with a finding that he posed a threat to the public, the defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for public protection. Such sentences were abolished with effect from the day after . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Sentencing

Updated: 29 March 2022; Ref: scu.511341

Mohan v Regina: PC 20 Oct 1966

(Trinidad and Tobago) The victim was attacked by the two appellants wielding ‘cutlasses’ and died from a particularly serious leg wound. The question arose ‘whether each of the appellants [could] be held responsible for the leg wound, when it may have been inflicted by the other of them.’
Held: The appeal failed on the basis of joint criminal enterprise. Lord Pearson said: ‘both the appellants were armed with cutlasses, both were attacking [the victim], and both struck him. It is impossible on the facts of this case to contend that the fatal blow was outside the scope of the common intention. The two appellants were attacking the same man at the same time with similar weapons and with the common intention that he should suffer grievous bodily harm.’
Each of the appellants ‘was present, and aiding and abetting the other of them in the wounding’, and it was unnecessary to show which accused person personally performed the acts.

Judges:

Lord Pearson

Citations:

[1966] UKPC 3, [1966] UKPC 24, [1967] 2 All ER 58, [1967] 2 WLR 676

Links:

Bailii, Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 29 March 2022; Ref: scu.445109

Nelson, Regina v: CACD 15 Jan 2013

The jury had convicted the defendant of common assault in substitution for a charge of assault by beating.
Held: The offence of assault by beating did not include by implication or otherwise an allegation of common assault. The appeal succeeded.

Judges:

Rafferty LJ, Keith, King JJ

Citations:

(2013) 177 JP 105, [2013] Crim LR 689, [2013] 1 Cr App R 30, [2013] 1 WLR 2861, [2013] WLR(D) 10, [2013] EWCA Crim 30

Links:

WLRD, Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 29 March 2022; Ref: scu.470806

Thambiah v The Queen: PC 7 Oct 1965

(Ceylon) A link in purpose between an aider and abetter and the principal offender is required to establish the crime: ‘One man may abet another by helping to set the stage even before the victim has been found. If a man helps another in preparation for crimes of a certain nature with the intention that the other shall commit crimes of that nature he may abet those crimes when they come to be committed . . That being the circumstance I conclude that there is no logical reason why an evidentiary rule that is based upon common sense principles, that is that proof that a number of people have combined with the intention of helping another to commit a crime, is not available to be applied to cases which arise under the Code and to cases brought pursuant to s 11.2 of the Code. I do not see that the application of the rule in Tripodi[36] is inconsistent and incompatible with the terms of liability provided for under the Code or inconsistent with an indictment that accused persons have aided and abetted an offence.
Furthermore, I conclude that where there is, as in the present case, evidence which demonstrates that a number of persons have combined together with a common purpose to assist and/or facilitate the commission of an offence, then as a matter of both law and common sense, the planning activities related to the provision of such assistance and/or facilitation, including relevant acts and conversations, are admissible to prove such a combination, and the fact of a common intention. Furthermore in certain circumstances such evidence may be admissible to prove the extent of the participation of those persons in the commission of the crime.’

Citations:

[1965] UKPC 29, [1966] 2 WLR 81, [1965] 3 All ER 661, [1966] AC 37

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 29 March 2022; Ref: scu.445148

National Coal Board v Gamble: QBD 1958

M drove a lorry used for carrying coal from the NCB quarries to power station. H was employed by the NCB to operate a weighbridge, providing tickets to drivers as to the weight on board, and aa a delivery note. On this occasion, the lorry was overloaded. H told M, but still ticketed the lorry and allowed him to drive away. NCB now appealed a conviction for aiding and abetting the offence by M.
Held: The appeal failed.
The court considered the necessary elements of an offence of aiding and abetting. Devlin J said: ‘If one man deliberately sells to another a gun to be used for murdering a third, he may be indifferent whether the third man lives or dies and interested only in the cash profit to be made out of the sale, but he can still be an aider and abetter.’ And ‘A person who supplies the instrument for a crime or anything essential to its commission aids in the commission of it; and if he does so knowingly and with intent to aid, he abets it as well and is therefore guilty of aiding and abetting.’
Aiding and abetting the commission of an offence could take place without the presence of the accused.
The intention required of an aider and abettor is an intention to assist or encourage the commission of a principal crime.
Devlin J pointed out that a consequence of rule that the law of tort does not recognise true accessory liability, only joint liability where the person who can be termed the actual perpetrator is the agent of another person, is that selling a person a gun knowing that person will use it to kill someone else will make the seller an accessory to the murder but will not in itself make him liable in tort.
Slade J said that mere passive acquiescence is sufficient only where the alleged aider and abettor has the power to control the offender and is actually present when the offence is committed, and continued: ‘Before a person can be convicted of aiding and abetting the commission of an offence the prosecution must prove: (a) that he knew the essential matters which constituted the offence . . and (b) that with such knowledge he assisted or at least encouraged the principal offender to commit the offence.’

Judges:

Slade, Devlin JJ

Citations:

[1958] 3 All ER 203, [1959] 42 CAR 240, [1959] 1 QB 11, (1958) 42 Cr App R 240, [1958] 3 WLR 434, (1958) 122 JP 453

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Bryce CACD 18-May-2004
The defendant said that his involvement in the murder of which he had been convicted had been secondary only. He was alleged to have transported the killer and the gun which he used to commit the murder to a caravan near the victim’s home so that . .
Cited – Jogee and Ruddock (Jamaica) v The Queen SC 18-Feb-2016
Joint Enterprise Murder
The two defendants appealed against their convictions (one in Jamaica) for murder, under the law of joint enterprise. Each had been an accessory when their accomplice killed a victim with a knife. The judge in Jogee had directed the jury that he . .
Cited – Fish and Fish Ltd v Sea Shepherd Uk and Others CA 16-May-2013
The claimant company sought damages after their transport of live tuna was attacked by a protest group. They now appealed against a decision that the company owning the attacking ship was not liable as a joint tortfeasor.
Held: The appeal was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Torts – Other

Updated: 29 March 2022; Ref: scu.190042

Dunn, Regina v: CACD 23 Nov 2010

Application for leave to appeal against convictions of four counts of ill-treatment of a person without capacity, contrary to section 44 of the 2005 Act – directions given by the Recorder to the jury about the constituent elements of the offence created by section 44 and in particular the concept of the absence of capacity for the purposes of this offence. It is submitted that his directions were incomplete and therefore wrong in law.

Judges:

Lord Judge LCJ

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Crim 2935, [2010] MHLR 349, [2011] 1 Cr App Rep 34

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Mental Capacity Act 2005 44

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.442430

Ibe, Regina v: CACD 9 Jul 2009

The issue in this case is as to the minimum term which must be served by the appellant who has been sentenced to life imprisonment after a conviction for murder.

Judges:

Holman J

Citations:

[2009] EWCA Crim 1489, [2010] 1 Cr App Rep (S) 72

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.430805

Gregory, Regina v: CACD 30 Jun 2011

Appeal against conviction following a guilty plea entered after a ruling that section 1(1) of the Firearms Act 1968 created an absolute offence, pleaded guilty on re-arraignment to possessing an altered firearm without a firearm certificate, contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968, and possessing a firearm when prohibited, contrary to section 21(1) of the same Act.
Held: The statute did create an offence of strict (not absolute) liability.

Judges:

Lord Judge LCJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Crim 1712

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Firearms Act 1968 1(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.442188

Mitchell, Regina v: CACD 15 Mar 2010

The appellant was convicted of attempting to shoot a police officer under a count alleging attempted murder for which he was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment, a sentence that will shortly become the subject of argument if this appeal is dismissed. He was also convicted of possessing a controlled drug of class A and another drug of class C and having an article with a blade or point. Together with the attempted murder, since it was a shooting, he was convicted of possessing a firearm with ammunition with intention to endanger life.

Judges:

Moses LJ

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Crim 783

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.442428

Owens and Another, Regina v: CACD 6 Sep 2006

The defendants appealed convictions and sentence (6 and 4 years) for conspiracy to sell red diesel as ‘DERV’ and for money laundering of the proceeds of the crime. The sums involved exceeded andpound;1.4m. They said that documents should not have been admitted as real evidence.
Held: ‘although it might in theory have been possible to use the disputed material for the truth of what it said, rather than in the more limited way permitted by the judge, as real evidence, we are satisfied that the Crown was faithful to the judge’s ruling, and the fact that counsel were unable to point to a single instance in the summing up where the material had been misused is, we think, ample confirmation of our conclusion’ They also complained that the evidence of the samples of diesel had not been taken in accordance with the statutory requirements. The analysis was not procedurally correct, but this did not undermine the safety of the conviction. The appeals both on conviction and sentence failed.

Judges:

Rix LJ, Jack J, Sir John Allot

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 2206

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Galbraith CCA 1981
Rejection of Submission of No Case to Answer
The defendant had faced a charge of affray. The court having rejected his submission of having no case to answer, he had made an exculpatory statement from the dock. He appealed against his conviction.
Held: Lord Lane LCJ said: ‘How then . .
Cited – Regina v Lydon CACD 1987
A gun and two scraps of paper (saying ‘Sean rules’) were found along the route of a road passed by a car with which the prosecution sought to link the defendant (Sean Lydon). The documents and the gun could themselves be linked forensically.
Cited – Regina v Czyzewski; Regina v Bryan; Regina v Mitchell; Regina v Diafi; Regina v Ward CACD 16-Jul-2003
The court set down detailed guidelines for sentencing for smuggling, but stated they were not to be treated as a straitjacket.
Held: The principle factors will be the level of duty evaded, the sophistication of methods used, the defendant’s . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.245046

Ukpabio, Regina v: CACD 30 Jul 2007

The court did not have power to admit video evidence other than in accordance with the statutory provisions.

Judges:

Latham LJ VP, Openshaw, King JJ

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 2108, [2008] 1 Cr App R 6, [2008] 1 WLR 728

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Diane, Regina v CACD 9-Jul-2009
Whether the judge had been right to admit evidence given by telephone only from a witness in Belgium.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Parliament authorised in sections 30 and 31 that witnesses who are present in the United Kingdom could be heard . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.259781

Regina v Rhodes: CACD 20 Jan 2015

Appeal from conviction on 22 counts of possessing, purchasing or acquiring, manufacturing, selling or transferring a prohibited weapon, contrary to section 5(1) (b) of the Firearms Act 1968. He had sold guns which were incapable of firing bullets, but the blockage of the barrel allowed the discharge of irritant gases and hot burning gases fired from either a blank or a gas cartridge to pass through them. The Court was asked whether the guns were designed for the discharge of any noxious liquid gas or other thing and in particular the meaning of ‘design’ in that context.
Held: Whatever might be lawful in other countries, sale of a pistol which has the design capability and must have the deliberate design capability of discharging gas cartridges is not. In the circumstances this appeal is dismissed.

Judges:

Sir Brian Leveson P QBD

Citations:

[2015] EWCA Crim 155, [2015] Crim LR 445, [2015] 2 Cr App R 16

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Firearms Act 1968 5(1)(b)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Law CACD 1-Feb-1999
The defendant appealed against a conviction for possession of a prohibited weapon, namely an MAC 10 submachine gun. It was the opinion of an expert at that laboratory that the weapon was capable of burst fire. It had been adapted to prevent this, . .
Cited – Turek v Regional Court In Gliwice Poland Admn 2011
the issue was whether the conduct relied upon as justifying extradition to Poland would constitute a breach of UK law. The allegation was possession of a gas gun without the required licence. The relevant UK offence was said to be a breach of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.655464

JS (A Child) v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 18 May 2017

Appeal by way of Case Stated against the a conviction of an offence of tampering with a motor vehicle contrary to section 25 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Judges:

Thirlwall LJ, Haddon-Cave J

Citations:

[2017] EWHC 1162 (Admin), [2017] 4 WLR 102, [2017] WLR(D) 361

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 March 2022; Ref: scu.588860

Kay, Regina v: CACD 23 May 2017

Appeals against convictions for manslaughter whilst suffering schizophrenia whilst under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Judges:

Hallet VP CACD, Treacy LJJ, McGowan DBE J

Citations:

[2017] EWCA Crim 647, [2017] WLR(D) 354

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 26 March 2022; Ref: scu.584249

Midmore, Regina v: CACD 28 Apr 2017

Reasons for dismissal of appeal against conviction for causing grievous bodily harm by throwing acid in the victims face.

Judges:

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, CJ, Dingemans, May JJ

Citations:

[2017] EWCA Crim 533

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 26 March 2022; Ref: scu.584248