Category: Crime

Yong v Regina: CACD 21 May 2015

The defendant appealed against his conviction for possession of two flash eliminators. He said that a crucial decision had not been left to the jury, namely whether the eliminators might have been used to fit to rifles as welll as automatic guns.
Held: ‘it is not only impossible to see how the judge’s ruling, had the present point been taken, could have favoured the appellant, but also it is equally hard to see how on that basis the appellant has lost anything by not having the issue he now raises resolved by a jury. In those circumstances we do not find that there is anything to impugn the safety of the conviction and dismiss this appeal.’

Treacy LJ, Nicol J, Tonking HHJ
[2015] EWCA Crim 852
Bailii
Firearms Act 1968 1(1)(a)
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.547027

N K A, Regina v: CACD 18 Mar 2015

The applicant renewed his application for leave to appeal against convictions of causing a child under the age of 13 (his stepdaughter) to engage in sexual activity.

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd LCJ, Macduff, Jeremy Baker JJ
[2015] EWCA Crim 614
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.546216

Asiedu v Regina: CACD 30 Apr 2015

Renewed application for leave to appeal against his conviction for conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life or to cause serious injury to property.
Lord Hughes referred to the general rule that, once a defendant has admitted facts which constitute the offence charged by an unambiguous and deliberately intended plea of guilty, there cannot then be an appeal against his conviction: ‘for the simple reason that there is nothing unsafe about a conviction based on the defendant’s own voluntary confession in open court. A defendant will not normally be permitted in this court to say that he has changed his mind and now wishes to deny what he has previously thus admitted in the Crown Court.’
He continued, saying that it does not follow that a plea of guilty is always a bar to the quashing of a conviction. Leaving aside equivocal or unintended pleas, he identified two principal cases in which it is not. First: ‘where the plea of guilty was compelled as a matter of law by an adverse ruling by the trial judge which left no arguable defence to be put before the jury. So, if the judge rules as a matter of law that on the defendant’s own case, that is on agreed or assumed facts, the offence has been committed, there is no arguable defence which the defendant can put before the jury. In that situation he can plead guilty and challenge the adverse ruling by appeal to this court. If the ruling is adjudged to have been wrong, the conviction is likely to be quashed. Contrast the situation where an adverse ruling at the trial (for example as to the admissibility of evidence) renders the defence being advanced more difficult, perhaps dramatically so. There, the ruling does not leave the defendant no case to advance to the jury. He remains able, despite the evidence against him, to advance his defence and, if convicted, to challenge the judicial ruling as to admissibility by way of appeal. If he chooses to plead guilty, he will be admitting the facts which constitute the offence and it will be too late to mount an appeal to this court.’

Hughes L, Wilkie, Irwin JJ
[2015] EWCA Crim 714
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Chalkley, Jeffries CACD 19-Dec-1997
The 1995 Act will not permit the Court of Appeal to allow an appeal where a conviction was safe but there was a substantial procedural unfairness. In order to understand the role of pre-1 January 1996 jurisprudence in applying what is now the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.546218

Murphy v Media Protection Services Ltd: Admn 8 Mar 2012

A prosecution was laid against the defendant who used a decoder to receive football programmes in her public house via a satellite which beamed the programmes from a provider in Greece. The allegation made by the defence was that this was in effect an attempt to enforce a geographical restriction which was contrary to European Union law. It had been conceded by the prosecutor that the finding of dishonesty against the defendant in that case could not stand if the geographical restriction on the use of the decoder was indeed unlawful.

Stanley Burnton LJ, Barling J
[2012] EWHC 529 (Admin), [2012] 3 CMLR 3, [2012] FSR 13, [2013] 1 Costs LR 16
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Federation Against Copyright Theft Ltd v Ashton Admn 7-Jun-2013
The Federation appealed against a decision rejecting its complaint against the defendant of having committed offences under the 1988 Act. He ran a social club, and was accused of showing material taken via a contract with Virgin for private showing, . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Costs, Intellectual Property, Crime

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.451875

Miller v The College of Policing: CA 20 Dec 2021

Hate-Incident Guidance Inflexible and Unlawful

The central issue raised in the appeal is the lawfulness of certain parts of a document entitled the Hate Crime Operational Guidance (the Guidance). The Guidance, issued in 2014 by the College of Policing (the College), the respondent to this appeal, sets out the national policy in relation to the monitoring and recording of what are described in the Guidance as non-crime hate incidents. At the root of the challenge is what is called perception-based recording. Specifically, the policy that non-crime hate incidents must be recorded by the police as such (against the named person allegedly responsible) if the incident is subjectively perceived by the ‘victim or any other person to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender’ and irrespective of any evidence of the ‘hate’ element. The lawfulness of the relevant parts of the Guidance is challenged as contrary to the appellant’s right to freedom of expression, both at common law and as protected by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention).
Held: The appeal was allowed on two grounds. The Guidance was a real and significant interference with the right to freedom of expression. The risk of recording in such a case (together with knowledge of that risk and potential disclosure of non-crime hate incidents on an Enhanced Criminal Record Check, for example) had the potential to create a chilling effect in relation to public debate on a controversial issue.
Although the Guidance contained two narrow exceptions to the general rule
that complaints must be recorded, the lack of any ‘common-sense’ discretion not to record irrational complaints meant that there was a risk of recording incidents which are essentially non-crime non-hate incidents. The Guidance made no provision for any proportionality exercise in relation to recording and said nothing about the language to be used in any such record, or whether the subject should be notified that an incident has been recorded.

President of the Queens Bench Division,
Lady Justice Simler,
And,
Lord Justice Haddon-Cave
[2021] EWCA Civ 1926
Bailii, Summary, Judiciary
European Convention on Human Rights, Data Protection Act 2018, Police Act 1997 113B(4)
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Miller, Regina (on The Application of) v The College of Policing and Another Admn 14-Feb-2020
The claimant challenged the respondent’s operational guidance on non-criminal hate speech. A third party had complained of his comments in tweets regarding transgender issues. . .
Cited – Catt and T, Regina (on The Applications of) v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 4-Mar-2015
Police Data Retention Justifiable
The appellants challenged the collection of data by the police, alleging that its retention interfered with their Article 8 rights. C complained of the retention of records of his lawful activities attending political demonstrations, and T . .
Cited – Catt v The United Kingdom ECHR 24-Jan-2019
ECHR Judgment : Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life : First Section . .
Cited – Wood v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis CA 21-May-2009
The appellant had been ostentatiously photographed by the police as he left a company general meeting. He was a peaceful and lawful objector to the Arms Trade. He appealed against refusal of an order for the records to be destroyed. The police had . .
Cited – Miller, Regina (on the Application of) v The Prime Minister; Cherry QC v Lord Advocate SC 24-Sep-2019
Prerogative act of prorogation was justiciable.
The Prime Minister had prorogued Parliament for a period of five weeks, leaving only a short time for Parliament to debate and act the forthcoming termination of the membership by the UK of the EU. The Scottish Court had decided (Cherry) that the . .
Cited – Youssef, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Admn 23-Jul-2012
The claimant challenged having been listed as an associate of Al-Qaida, with the resulting freezing of assets and a travel ban.
Held: His request for judicial review failed.
Toulson LJ deprecated the ‘tendency on the part of lawyers . . . .
Cited – Unison, Regina (on The Application of) v Lord Chancellor SC 26-Jul-2017
The union appellant challenged the validity of the imposition of fees on those seeking to lay complaints in the Employment Tribunal system.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The fees were discriminatory and restricted access to justice.
The . .
Cited – Al-Saadoon and Others v Secretary of State for Defence Admn 17-Mar-2015
Leggatt J explained the idea of enforced disappearance: ‘a concept recognised in international law and . . a practice which is internationally condemned. It involves detention outside the protection of the law where there is a refusal by the state . .
Cited – AJA and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis and Others CA 5-Nov-2013
The Court was asked whether the Investigatory Powers Tribunal had the power to investigate whether police officers acrting as undercover agents, and having sexual relations with those they were themselves investigating had infringed the human rights . .
Cited – Handyside v The United Kingdom ECHR 7-Dec-1976
Freedom of Expression is Fundamental to Society
The appellant had published a ‘Little Red Schoolbook’. He was convicted under the 1959 and 1964 Acts on the basis that the book was obscene, it tending to deprave and corrupt its target audience, children. The book claimed that it was intended to . .
Cited – Balsyte-Lideikiene v Lithuania ECHR 4-Nov-2008
. .
Cited – Vajnai v Hungary ECHR 2010
The applicant wore a red star which was proscribed because of its association with communism.
Held: ‘a legal system which applies restrictions on human rights in order to satisfy the dictates of public feeling – real or imaginary – cannot be . .
Cited – Altuc Taner Akcam v Turkey ECHR 25-Oct-2011
A professor of history had published numerous books and articles on the historical events of 1915 concerning the Armenian population, a subject of great sensitivity in Turkey. He published an editorial opinion in a Turkish-Armenian newspaper . .
Cited – Bridges, Regina (on The Application of) v South Wales Police CA 11-Aug-2020
. .
Cited – Bridges, Regina (on Application of) v The Chief Constable of South Wales Police Admn 4-Sep-2019
The court was asked whether the current legal regime in the United Kingdom is adequate to ensure the appropriate and non-arbitrary use of Automated Facial Recognition technology in a free and civilized society. At the heart of this case lies a . .
Cited – Perincek v Switzerland ECHR 15-Oct-2015
(Grand Chamber) The applicant alleged, in particular, that his criminal conviction and sentence in Switzerland on account of public statements that he had made there in 2005 had been in breach of his right to freedom of expression and of his right . .
Cited – Silver And Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Mar-1983
There had been interference with prisoners’ letters by prison authorities. The Commission considered Standing Orders and Circular Instructions in relation to restrictions on correspondence. The rules were not available to prisoners and were . .
Cited – Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority and Department of Health and Social Security HL 17-Oct-1985
Lawfulness of Contraceptive advice for Girls
The claimant had young daughters. She challenged advice given to doctors by the second respondent allowing them to give contraceptive advice to girls under 16, and the right of the first defendant to act upon that advice. She objected that the . .
Cited – A, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 30-Jul-2021
Standards to be applied by a court when it is asked to conduct a judicial review of the contents of a policy document or statement of practice issued by the Government. The Supreme Court set out the principles governing the test that should be . .
Cited – BF (Eritrea), Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 30-Jul-2021
Standards to be applied by a court on judicial review of the contents of a policy
document or statement of practice issued by a public authority. I . .
Cited – Perincek v Switzerland ECHR 15-Oct-2015
(Grand Chamber) The applicant alleged, in particular, that his criminal conviction and sentence in Switzerland on account of public statements that he had made there in 2005 had been in breach of his right to freedom of expression and of his right . .
Cited – Bank Mellat v Her Majesty’s Treasury (No 2) SC 19-Jun-2013
The bank challenged measures taken by HM Treasury to restrict access to the United Kingdom’s financial markets by a major Iranian commercial bank, Bank Mellat, on the account of its alleged connection with Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Police, Human Rights

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.670638

Sullivan v Earl of Caithness: QBD 1976

The defendant who lived in Oxfordshire stored his guns at his mother’s property in Surrey because it was more secure. The magistrates held that he was not in possession of the guns in Oxfordshire. The prosecutor appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded.
May J said: ‘In my opinion the purpose of section 1 of the Act of 1968 and its ancillary provisions is to regulate and license not merely those who have physical custody of firearms, or who keep them in the place in which they live, but also those who have firearms under their control at their behest, even though for one reason or another they may be kept at their country cottage, at the local shooting range or indeed at Bisley . . In the present case the defendant was at all material times the owner of the firearms. He could no doubt obtain them from his mother’s flat at any time when he wanted them. She had the barest of custody of them, not because she had any interest in them, but because her flat was safer than the defendant’s home in Oxford’

Lord Widgery CJ, Park and May JJ)
[1976] QB 966, [1976] All ER 844
Firearms Act 1968 1
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Jenkins v Director of Public Prosecutions and Another Admn 22-May-2020
Short term possession of stun gun
The appellant challenged the decision of the justices finding him guilty on summary conviction of an offence of possession of a weapon designed or adapted for the discharge of electrical current for incapacitation contrary to s. 5(1)(b) and Schedule . .
Applied – Regina v North CACD 9-Mar-2001
The present appeal turns on the meaning and scope of the concept ‘has in his possession’ in the subsection.
Held: The court applied the conclusion stated in Sullivan, stating that the notion of what amounted to possession ought to be . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis v Meekey Admn 12-Jan-2021
The claimant had been convicted and served his time for possession of a large collection of obsolete or antique firearms. He now sought their return. The police replied that he was in any event out of time.
Held: ‘Section 3(2) of the 1980 Act . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.651059

Regina v North: CACD 9 Mar 2001

The present appeal turns on the meaning and scope of the concept ‘has in his possession’ in the subsection.
Held: The court applied the conclusion stated in Sullivan, stating that the notion of what amounted to possession ought to be consistent across all provisions in the 1968 Act formulated in such terms.

Lord Justice Mance, Mr Justice Bel An
His Honour Judge Allen
[2001] EWCA Crim 544
Bailii
Firearms Act 1968 17(2)
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Sullivan v Earl of Caithness QBD 1976
The defendant who lived in Oxfordshire stored his guns at his mother’s property in Surrey because it was more secure. The magistrates held that he was not in possession of the guns in Oxfordshire. The prosecutor appealed.
Held: The appeal . .

Cited by:
Cited – Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis v Meekey Admn 12-Jan-2021
The claimant had been convicted and served his time for possession of a large collection of obsolete or antique firearms. He now sought their return. The police replied that he was in any event out of time.
Held: ‘Section 3(2) of the 1980 Act . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.158750

Churchill-Richards, Regina v: CACD 19 Oct 2021

Two counts of rape and two counts of supplying a psychoactive substance

Lady Justice Simler DBE,
Mr Justice Spencer,
The Recorder of Liverpool,
His Honour Judge Menary QC,
(Sitting as a Judge of the Cacd)
[2021] EWCA Crim 1691
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.669843

GH, Regina v: SC 22 Apr 2015

Appeal against conviction for entering into an arrangement for the retention of criminal funds. The defendant said that at the time of the arrangement there were not yet any criminal funds in existence. A had set up websites intending to con visitors selling non-existent cut price insurance. B opened bank accounts for A to be used to channel the fraudulent profits.
Held: The appeal succeeded. ‘Criminal property’ in sections 327-329 of POCA refers to property which already has the quality of being ‘criminal property’ (as defined in section 340 of POCA) by reason of prior criminal conduct distinct from the conduct alleged to constitute the commission of the money laundering offence itself.

Lord Neuberger, President, Lord Kerr, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes, Lord Toulson
[2015] UKSC 24, [2015] 1 WLR 2126, [2015] WLR(D) 178, UKSC 2014/0035
Bailii, Bailii Summary, WLRD, SC, SC Summary
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 328(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Montila and Others HL 25-Nov-2004
The defendants faced charges under the two Acts. They raised as a preliminary issue whether it is necessary for the Crown to prove that the property being converted was in fact the proceeds, in the case of the 1994 Act, of drug trafficking and, in . .
Cited – Bowman v Fels (Bar Council and Others intervening) CA 8-Mar-2005
The parties had lived together in a house owned in the defendant’s name and in which she claimed an interest. The claimant’s solicitors notified NCIS that they thought the defendant had acted illegally in setting off against his VAT liability the . .
Cited – Loizou, Regina v CACD 14-Jul-2006
The defendant appealed against her conviction for assisting in the disposal of the proceeds of criminal activity, saying that the judge had incorrectly ruled that she had waived legal privilege as to the advice given to her at the police station, . .
Cited – Kensington International Ltd v Republic of Congo CA 7-Nov-2007
The defendants appealed against orders requiring them to disclose documents in an action regarding the payment of bribes, saying that the requirement effectively required them to incriminate themselves.
Held: The appeal failed. The public . .
Cited – Geary, Regina v CACD 30-Jul-2010
The defendant agreed to help a friend named Harrington to hide some money for a period. Under the arrangement Harrington transferred around andpound;123,000 into the defendant’s bank account. The defendant used some of it to make some purchases for . .
Cited – Amir and Another, Regina v CACD 23-Nov-2011
Akhtar had arranged with a mortgage broker to obtain money from lenders by submitting false mortgage applications on behalf of third parties. He was prosecuted under section 328. The prosecution argued that Akhtar was guilty because he entered into . .
Appeal from – G and Another, Regina v CACD 5-Dec-2013
The defendant had pled not guilty to a charge of entering into a facility which would facilitate money laundering. The court upheld that plea. The prosecutor now appealed.
Held: The appeal failed, although under section 328 it is not necessary . .
Cited – JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov and Others CA 27-Oct-2009
The court considered a Defendant’s appeal asking whether section 13 of the 2006 Act removed the privilege against self-incrimination in respect of an offence under section 328 of the 2002 Act. The defendant contended that were it to comply with the . .
Cited – HKSAR v Li Kwok Cheung George 5-Jun-2014
Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal The court considered the wording of a Hong Kong money laundering ordinance.
Held: Ribeiro and Fok PJJ said in their joint judgment with which the other members of the Court of Final Appeal agreed, saying: ‘It is . .
Cited – Wilkinson, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 22-Jun-2006
The defendant sought judicial review of the decision to charge him under the Act for being in possession of a stolen motor-cycle. He said he had been over-charged.
Held: Unlike a conviction for handling stolen goods, the offence under the 2002 . .
Cited – CPS Nottinghamshire v Rose CACD 21-Feb-2008
. .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.545695

Regina v S: CACD 31 Mar 2015

The defendant renewed his application for leave to apeal against his conviction for the gross negligence manslaughter of his girl friend.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘ the issue for the jury on count 2 was not based on a subjective test (what did the applicant know, believe or foresee) but rather an objective one: whether a reasonable and prudent person of the applicant’s age and experience would have foreseen a serious risk of death and, if so, whether the applicant’s conduct fell so far below the standard of care required that it was grossly negligent such that it constituted a crime. In answering that objective question, it was open to the jury to conclude on the evidence before it that the applicant’s conduct fell below the standard of care in pointing a gun and pulling the trigger when just a short distance away from Shereka. The judge distinguished ordinary negligence and said that whether this was gross negligence turned on the circumstances.’

Sir Brian Leveson P QBD, Cranston, Singh JJ
[2015] EWCA Crim 558
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.545004

Khalif, Regina (on The Application of) v Isleworth Crown Court: Admn 31 Mar 2015

The defendant appealed against his conviction under the 2004 Act on his plea of guilty saying that he had been given erroneous legal advice as to section 2(4)(c).

Burnett LJ, Lewis J
[2015] EWHC 917 (Admin)
Bailii
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Thet v Director of Public Prosecutionsz Admn 19-Oct-2006
The defendant appealed by case stated against his conviction by the magistrates for entering the UK without a passport. He had relied on a false passport povided to him by an agent, and had returned it to the facilitator. He was therefore unable to . .
Cited – Asmeron v Regina CACD 11-Apr-2013
The court gave its reasons for allowing the defendant’s appeal against his conviction for entering into the UK without a passport. He had given his passport to an agent purporting to arrange his entry and under whose control he was. He claimed . .
Cited – Mohammed, Regina v; Regina v Osman CACD 16-Oct-2007
When a court considered a case involving a question of whether an asylum applicant who had arrived in the UK without documents or with false documents, it had to balance properly the need for control over entry with the stark realities which faced a . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Immigration

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.545009

Lee Chow Meng alias Koh Loh Meng alias Lim Peng Hun v The Public Prosecutor: PC 10 May 1979

Malaysia – The Board declined to hear the petition of appeal saying that it did not have jurisdiction to hear appeals in criminal cases from Malaysia.

Wilberforce, Russell of Killowen, Keith of Kinkel LL
[1979] UKPC 20, [1979] Crim LR 465, [1979] 1 WLR 1463
Bailii

Commonwealth, Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.544924

Khan, Regina v: CACD 21 Oct 2021

The applicant having been discharged of offences under the 1988 Act, the Court nevertheless imposed an order on him in his absence under the 1997 Act prohibiting him from contacting the complainant for a period of 10 years. He sought to appeal from that order.
Held: The procedure had indeed been unfair: ‘ The decision whether to proceed in a defendant’s absence must be taken cautiously. The Judge correctly identified the authority of Jones, but he did not invite the prosecution’s submissions, or apparently assess the relevant factors before deciding to proceed in the defendant’s absence. Frustrating though the delay was, the Applicant had communicated to the Court that he was on his way. The Court was about to hear evidence in support of the application for the restraining order. The Defendant was not represented. Proceeding in his absence meant, first, that he would not hear the prosecution’s evidence; second, he would be unable to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses; third, he would not have the opportunity to present any evidence (including giving evidence himself) in his defence; and fourth, he would not be able to make submissions to the Judge as to whether a restraining order was necessary, and, if so, in what terms and for what period.’ The order was set aside but with an order for a rehearing.

Mr Justice Nicklin
[2021] EWCA Crim 1526
Bailii, Judiciary
Malicious Communications Act 1988 1(1)(a), Protection from Harassment Act 1997 5A
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Jones (Anthony William) HL 20-Feb-2002
The defendant absconded, and did not appear for his trial despite several listings. The trial proceeded in his absence entirely. After arrest, he appealed, saying that he had not had a fair trial.
Held: It was not suggested that he did not . .
Cited – Major, Regina v CACD 1-Dec-2010
The appellant had been charged with an offence of putting a person in fear of violence through harassment, contrary to section 4 of the 1997 Act. She was acquitted of count 1, but the jury could not agree on its verdict on the alternative offence of . .
Cited – Baldwin, Regina v CACD 14-May-2021
This appeal raises the issue of whether a post acquittal restraining order made under section 5A of the 1997 Act was properly made against the Appellant after he had been acquitted of offences of making threats to kill, assault occasioning actual . .
Cited – Serafin v Malkiewicz and Others SC 3-Jun-2020
‘What order should flow from a conclusion that a trial was unfair? In logic the order has to be for a complete retrial. As Denning LJ said in Jones -v- National Coal Board [1957] 2 QB 55 . . ‘No cause is lost until the judge has found it so; and he . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.669234

Regina v Woodman: CACD 26 Apr 1974

The defendant appealed his conviction of theft of materials from an abandoned industrial site.
Held: The appeal failed. ‘ there was evidence of English China Clays being in control of the site and prima facie in control of articles upon the site as well. The fact that it could not be shown that they were conscious of the existence of this or any particular scrap iron does not destroy the general principle that control of a site by excluding others from it is prima facie control of articles on the site as well.’

The Lord Chief Justice of England (Lord Widgery),
Mr Justice Ashworth,
And,
Mr Justice Mocatta
[1974] EWCA Crim 1, [1974] 2 All ER 955, 138 JP 567, [1974] QB 754, [1974] 2 WLR 821, 59 Cr App Rep 200
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Hibbert v McKiernan KBD 22-Apr-1948
The defendant had collected golf balls lost on a golf course while trespassing. He appealed his conviction of theft by finding.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘There can be no animus domini unless the thing is known of; but an intent to exclude . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.249930

Major, Regina v: CACD 1 Dec 2010

The appellant had been charged with an offence of putting a person in fear of violence through harassment, contrary to section 4 of the 1997 Act. She was acquitted of count 1, but the jury could not agree on its verdict on the alternative offence of harassment contrary to section 2 of the Act and was discharged. At the invitation of the prosecution, the court made a restraining order on acquittal pursuant to the provisions of section 5A of the Act.
Held: In such a situation, the judge must identify and support the factual basis for the order made.

Baron Igor Judge LCJ, Calvert Williams, Griffith Williams JJ
[2010] EWCA Crim 3016, [2011] 1 Cr App Rep 25
Bailii
Protection from Harassment Act 1997 5A
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Lawrence CACD 2012
The defendant appealed against the making against him of an order under the 1977 Act on his acquittal for a different substantive offence.
Held: The judge is required to identify the factual basis for imposing an order and that it must not be . .
Cited – Jose, Regina v CACD 23-May-2013
The defendant had been acquitted of having a bladed article in a public pace, and now appealed against the making of a restraining order against him under the 1977 Act.
Held: The appeal succeeded: ‘the requirements of the making of a . .
Cited – Khan, Regina v CACD 21-Oct-2021
The applicant having been discharged of offences under the 1988 Act, the Court nevertheless imposed an order on him in his absence under the 1997 Act prohibiting him from contacting the complainant for a period of 10 years. He sought to appeal from . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.427990

Baldwin, Regina v: CACD 14 May 2021

This appeal raises the issue of whether a post acquittal restraining order made under section 5A of the 1997 Act was properly made against the Appellant after he had been acquitted of offences of making threats to kill, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, theft and criminal damage.
Held: this is an order which is imposed after an acquittal. It may be imposed even where the prosecution has offered no evidence. A restraining order is a civil order and does not reflect on the guilt of the appellant. The civil standard of proof applies, see R v Major at paragraph 15. Section 5A of the 1997 Act addresses a future risk of behaviour by the appellant which might amount to harassment. . . There has to be a course of conduct which might alarm a person or cause distress. There has to be an identification of the victim. This is because the order is for the protection of a particular vulnerable person or possibly an identifiable group of vulnerable persons, see R v Smith at paragraph 27. The legislation was aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence, but was not limited to such circumstances. The order must be ‘necessary … to protect a person from harassment’ and the word necessary must not be ignored . . Although an order may be made after acquittal it must be made on the evidence.

Lord Justice Dingemans
[2021] EWCA Crim 703
Bailii
Protection from Harassment Act 1997 5A
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Khan, Regina v CACD 21-Oct-2021
The applicant having been discharged of offences under the 1988 Act, the Court nevertheless imposed an order on him in his absence under the 1997 Act prohibiting him from contacting the complainant for a period of 10 years. He sought to appeal from . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.662499

Cadwell, Regina v: CACD 2 Nov 2021

Renewed application for leave to appeal against conviction in a case involving sexual offences against a 13-year-old girl,

Lord Justice Holroyde,
Mr Justice Julian Knowles,
Mr Justice Henshaw
[2021] EWCA Crim 1774
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.670268

Philip Joshua Rahming v The Queen: PC 20 May 2002

(Bahamas) The case was an appeal against a conviction for murder on the basis of the incorrect direction from the judge as to manslaughter and murder, and the failure to give a lies direction.
Held: The failure to bring the defendant before a court within 48 hours did not affect the weight of the evidence. The prosecution had not asked the jury to rely upon the fact of the defendant’s lies. The judge had failed to distinguish between acts intending causing unlawful bodily harm and those intending causing death. He left the jury with the impression that a reckless killing could suffice for murder. The conviction for murder was quashed and one for manslaughter substituted.

Lord Slynn of Hadley Lord Steyn Lord Hutton Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough Lord Rodger of Earlsferry
[2002] UKPC 23, (Appeal No 33 0f 2001)
PC, PC, Philip Joshua Rahming ‘ target=’_n’>PC, Bailii, PC
Evidence Act 1996 (Bahamas) 20
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Burge and Pegg CACD 1996
The court considered the circumstances under which the defendant had lied, and Lucas direction was to be given: ‘As there seems to be at the moment a tendency in one appeal after another to assert that there has been no direction, or an inadequate . .
Cited – Regina v Goodway CACD 11-Aug-1993
The judge is to give a ‘Lucas’ direction, if the fact of a defendant’s lie is to be relied upon by the prosecution to challenge the veracity of other evidence given by the defendant. . .
Cited – Regina v Lucas (Ruth) CACD 1981
People sometimes tell lies for reasons other than a belief that they are necessary to conceal guilt.
Four conditions were identified which must be satisfied before a defendant’s lie could be seen as supporting the prosecution case:-
(1) . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Commonwealth, Crime, Evidence

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.171197

Bryson v Somervill: SCS 17 Nov 1565

Anent the action pursued by Janet Bryson against Janet Somervill, and William Sharer, her son, for a spulzie committed by umquhil David Sharer, her husband, and herself, and their son being in company with them; it was alleged for the said William, That in time of the said spulzie committed by his father and mother, he was within the age of twelve years, and but alleged to be in company with his said father; and so not being doli capax, et in patria potestate, non potuit contrahere obligationem.-It was alleged by the said pursuer, that the said William was past ten years, and therefore might be called for the said spulzie, because he was doli capax, quia in proxima erat pubertati et malitia potuit supplere aetatem; neither the woman nor he could be excused, by the man being father to the boy, and husband, quia omnes in pari delicto parem paenam sustineant, et cum hisce actio ex maleficio orietur, omnes tenebat.-It was alleged by the said William, because the said pursuer alleged him to be of ten years and not fourteen, therefore he should be assoilzied: Whilk allegeance of the said pursuer was repelled; and the allegeance of the said defender admitted; and the said defender assoilzied frae the spulzie, for the causes foresaid.-It was alleged by the said Janet Somervill, That she should be assoilzied frae the said spulzie, because it was alleged in the pursuer’s libel, that umquhil David Sharer her husband, and she in company with him, committed the said spulzie; so on noways should she be called after his decease, she neither being called after as heir, or executrix to him, but allenarly upon her own deed, done in company with her own husband in his time, he being her principal head: Which allegeance of the said Janet, defender, was admitted, and she affoilzied frae the said spulzie. The like was practiced before, in my Lady Crawfurd’s case, who being pursued for the spulzie of, was absolved, because her husband was there; and my Lady Ratie, pursued by ane Bruce, was absolved for the samen reason. See Husband and Wife.

[1565] Mor 1703
Bailii

Scotland, Crime, Family

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.544216

Smith, Regina v: CACD 4 Feb 2015

The appellant appeals against conviction of entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement, contrary to section 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act. The only issue that arises under this appeal is whether the judge should have withdrawn the case from the jury on the money laundering charges (counts 2 and 3) because there was no, or no sufficient, evidence to support the prosecution case that the property in question at trial was criminal property within the meaning of section 343(3)(a) of POCA.

[2015] EWCA Crim 333
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.545000

Magy v Belgium: ECHR 24 Feb 2015

The applicant specifically alleges that his right to a fair trial was violated because of the lack of basis of the jury’s verdict and the judgment of the Assize Court having sentenced to imprisonment twenty-three years

Isil Karakas P
43137/09 – Chamber Judgment, [2015] ECHR 214
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights

Human Rights, Crime

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.543245

Regina v Sneddon: 1967

[1967] 1 WLR 1051
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Sang HL 25-Jul-1979
The defendant appealed against an unsuccessful application to exclude evidence where it was claimed there had been incitement by an agent provocateur.
Held: The appeal failed. There is no defence of entrapment in English law. All evidence . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.250471

Regina v Clarke: CACD 7 Dec 1971

The defendant appealed against her conviction for theft (shop-lifting). She had placed goods in the wire basket whilst in the supermarket, but transferred some of them to her own bag before approaching the checkout. She denied the intent to steal, citing a medical condition and stressful circumstances. She brought medical experts to support her case, but the judge pressed them as to their evidence, and eventually suggested that he would direct the jury that this was in effect a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and directed them as to the McNaughton rules. The defendant was advised to plead guilty.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The judge had mis-stated the law. The medical evidence was to the effect that it was absurd to call anyone in Mrs. Clarke’s condition insane.

Lord Widgery LCJ, Sachs LJ, Ackner J
[1972] 1 All ER 219, (1971) 56 Cr App Rep 225, (1971) 136 JP 184, [1971] EWCA Crim 5
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.249926

Regina v Roberts: CACD 21 Oct 1971

The defendant appealed against his conviction for assault, complaining of the judge’s direction which did not require them to conclude that the defendant’s acts had caused the injury suffered.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘ the Judge was right to tell the jury that it was their duty to convict if they accepted the evidence of the girl, and there was no misdirection involved in his telling them just that.’

Stephenson LJ, Thompson, Bridge JJ
[1971] EWCA Crim 4, (1972) 56 Cr App R 95, (1971) 115 SJ 809
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.249925

Regina v Sang: HL 25 Jul 1979

The defendant appealed against an unsuccessful application to exclude evidence where it was claimed there had been incitement by an agent provocateur.
Held: The appeal failed. There is no defence of entrapment in English law. All evidence which is relevant is prima facie admissible in a criminal trial, although the trial judge has a discretion to exclude evidence which, though admissible, has been obtained by unfair means from the accused after commission of the offence. The rule allowing the exclusion of evidence was described by Lord Diplock as ‘a discretion to exclude evidence which, though technically admissible, would probably have a prejudicial influence on the minds of the jury, which would be out of proportion to its true evidential value.
A court is concerned only with ‘the conduct of the trial’ and neither ‘initiates nor stifles a prosecution’ but ‘the fairness of a trial is not all one-sided; it requires that those who are undoubtedly guilty should be convicted as well as that those about whose guilt there is any reasonable doubt should be acquitted.”
Lord Diplock said that the rule against accepting evidence obtained under duress originated in the principle expressed as ‘nemo debet prodere se ipsum’, ‘nemo tenetur se ipsum accusare’ or ‘nemo tenetur prodere seipsum’- the right against self incrimination.
Lord Scarman, referred to the earlier speech of Lord Reid in Myers v Director of Public Prosecutions, and stated that it was now the law that ‘a judge has a discretion to exclude legally admissible evidence if justice so requires’.

Lord Scarman, Lord Diplock, Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Salmon, Lord Fraser of Tullybelton
[1980] AC 402, [1979] UKHL 3, [1979] 3 WLR 263, [1979] 2 All ER 1222, (1979) 69 Cr App R 282
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Payne CCA 1963
The defendant’s conviction was quashed upon the ground that the judge ought to have exercised his discretion to exclude admissible evidence which had been obtained unfairly. . .
Cited – Regina v Mealey and Sheridan CACD 1974
A claim of entrapment into an offence is not a defence in Engish law. The court adopted a definition contained in the report of the Royal Commission on Police Powers in 1928 in which an ‘agent provocateur’ was taken to mean ‘a person who entices . .
Cited – Regina v Ameer and Lucas CCC 1977
The court exercised its discretion to refuse to allow the prosecution to call any evidence to prove the commission of the offence by the accused where it had been shown that there had been an agent provocateur. . .
Cited – Regina v McEvilly and Lee CACD 1973
Entrapment is not a defence to a criminal charge. . .
Cited – Brannan v Peek 1948
. .
Cited – Browning v Watson 1953
. .
Cited – Kuruma v The Queen PC 8-Dec-1954
(Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa) The defendant appealed against his conviction for unlawful possession of ammunition, saying that the evidence had been obtained by unlawful means, and should not have been admitted against him.
Held: Lord . .
Cited – Callis v Gunn CCA 1964
Evidence obtained by false representations, threats and bribes by the police may be excluded at the discretion of the judge. For voluntariness to be satisfactorily proved, proof must be provided to the standard of beyond reasonable doubt.
Lord . .
Cited – Regina v Murphy CMAC 1965
(Courts-Martial Appeal Court of Northern Ireland) The court has a discretion to exclude the evidence of an agent provocateur. . .
Cited – Regina v Sneddon 1967
. .
Cited – Jeffrey v Black QBD 1977
The prosecutor appealed by way of case stated from magistrates who had exercised their discretion to exclude evidence of possession of drugs that had been obtained by an illegal search of the accused’s room by the police.
Held: The magistrates . .

Cited by:
Modified – Jones v University of Warwick CA 4-Feb-2003
The claimant appealed a decision to admit in evidence a tape recording, taken by an enquiry agent of the defendant who had entered her house unlawfully.
Held: The situation asked judges to reconcile the irreconcilable. Courts should be . .
Cited – W, Regina v (Attorney General’s reference no 5 of 2002) CACD 12-Jun-2003
Three serving police officers provided confidential information to a known criminal. The Chief Constable authorised interception of telephones at a police station, a private network. The court accepted that section 17 prevented the defence asserting . .
Cited – A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, Mahmoud Abu Rideh Jamal Ajouaou v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 11-Aug-2004
The claimants had each been detained without trial for more than two years, being held as suspected terrorists. They were free leave to return to their own countries, but they feared for their lives if returned. They complained that the evidence . .
Cited – Regina v Derby Crown Court, ex parte Brooks QBD 1985
The court set out the characteristics of abuse of process in criminal matters. It may be an abuse of process if: ‘the prosecution have manipulated or misused the process of the court so as to deprive the defendant of a protection provided by the law . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 1 of 1990) CACD 1990
A police officer attended an incident where two people were arrested. Complaints about his conduct were made of which he was given notice. A formal investigation was instituted and adjourned pending the outcome of criminal proceedings against those . .
Cited – Grant v The Queen PC 16-Jan-2006
(Jamaica) The defendant appealed his conviction for murder saying that the admission of an unsworn statement by one witness and the non-admission of another similar statement who did not either attend court was unconstitutional. He shot the victim . .
Cited – C Plc v P and Attorney General Intervening CA 22-May-2007
The respondent had been subject to a civil search, which revealed the existence of obscene images of children on his computer. He appealed against refusal of an order that the evidence should not be passed to the police as evidence. He said that the . .
Cited – Fox v Chief Constable of Gwent HL 1986
The driver left an accident. The police entered his home unlawfully, and on his refusal to supply a breath test, he was arrested and charged with faiing to supply.
Held: A lawful arrest is not an essential requirement before a breath test, and . .
Cited – Regina v Sargent HL 25-Oct-2001
When a telephone engineer used his position to make unauthorised telephone intercepts, and produced apparent evidence of criminal activity, he was, under the Act, a person engaged in providing a public communications system, and the recordings were . .
Cited – Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 1) Admn 21-Aug-2008
The claimant had been detained by the US in Guantanamo Bay suspected of terrorist involvement. He sought to support his defence documents from the respondent which showed that the evidence to be relied on in the US courts had been obtained by . .
Cited – Regina v Khan (Sultan) HL 2-Jul-1996
The police had obtained the evidence against the defendant by fixing a covert listening device at an apartment visited by the defendant, and by recording his conversations there. The defendant appealed, saying that the court should have regard to . .
Cited – Cummins, Regina (on The Application of) v Manchester Crown Court Admn 27-Jul-2010
The claimant sought a declaration that search warrants on his premises issued under money laundering suspicions were unlawful. The warrants did not comply with the 1984 Act, having failed satisfactorily to specify their purpose. Limited offers had . .
Cited – Cook and Another v Serious Organised Crime Agency Admn 27-Jul-2010
The claimants sought review of a decision of the Serious Organised Crime Agency to seize documents which have been the subject of the unlawful execution of a search warrant, purporting to act for this record seizure under section 19 of the Police . .
Cited – Kohler v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 9-Jul-2010
The driver appealed against her conviction for driving with excess alcohol. She said that she had not been given the protection provided under section 9 against being required to provide a specimen whilst under the care of a doctor at hospital.
Cited – Public Prosecution Service v McKee SC 22-May-2013
Non-approval didn’t devalue fingerprints
The court was asked: ‘what are the statutory consequences if the fingerprints of a defendant have been taken in a police station in Northern Ireland by an electronic device for which the legislation required approval from the Secretary of State, . .
Explained – Morris v Beardmore HL 1981
Parliament does not intend to authorise tortious conduct except by express provision. It is not for the courts to alter the balance between individual rights and the powers of public officials. The right of privacy is fundamental.
Lord Scarman . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.179807

Hibbert v McKiernan: KBD 22 Apr 1948

The defendant had collected golf balls lost on a golf course while trespassing. He appealed his conviction of theft by finding.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘There can be no animus domini unless the thing is known of; but an intent to exclude others from it may be contained in a larger intent to exclude others from the place where it is, without any knowledge of the object’s existence.’ and ‘In a criminal case, the property in iron taken from the bottom of a canal by a stranger was held well laid in the canal company, although it does not appear that the company knew of it, or had any lien upon it. The only intent concerning the thing discoverable in such instances is the general intent which the occupant of land has to exclude the public from the land, and thus, as a consequence, to exclude them from what is upon it.’

Lord Goddard Humphreys, Portman Jj
[1948] 2 KBD 147, [1948] NZPoliceLawRp 6, (1948) 8 New Zealand Police Law Reports 20, [1948] 1 All ER 860, (1948) 46 LGR 238, (1948) 112 JP 287
NZLII
Larceny Act 1916 1(2)(i)(d)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Woodman CACD 26-Apr-1974
The defendant appealed his conviction of theft of materials from an abandoned industrial site.
Held: The appeal failed. ‘ there was evidence of English China Clays being in control of the site and prima facie in control of articles upon the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.670759

Larionovs And Tess v Latvia (Dec): ECHR 25 Nov 2014

Article 35-1
Exhaustion of domestic remedies
Effective domestic remedy
Constitutional complaint on retroactivity of criminal provision on genocide: inadmissible
Facts – The applicants were former officials of the then Soviet Socialist Republic of Latvia. In 2003, pursuant to a provision inserted into the Latvian Criminal Code in 1993, they were convicted of crimes contrary to Article 681 of the Criminal Code for having actively participated in the large-scale deportation of wealthy farmers, known as kulaks, from the Baltic countries in March 1949. They were sentenced to prison terms of five and two years respectively, in consideration of their age and poor health. In their applications to the European Court, the applicants complained of a violation of Article 7 of the Convention as they had been convicted of a crime which had not existed in Latvian law at the time of the impugned acts. The Government objected that their complaints were inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic remedies in that they had not lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court. (For a more detailed summary of the facts of the first applicant’s case, see Information Note 105).
Law – Article 35 – 1
(a) Scope of review by the Latvian Constitutional Court – In previous cases, the Court had noted that a complaint to the Latvian Constitutional Court was an effective remedy only if the alleged violation resulted from a statutory provision, not from the erroneous application or interpretation of the law by the judicial or administrative authorities. The applicants had been convicted of offences under the Criminal Code which transposed the relevant provisions of the 1968 Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, which was directly applicable in Latvia. The Court therefore rejected the applicants’ contention that their complaint could not be the subject of constitutional review.
As to whether the provisions under which the applicants had been convicted could be called into question as being incompatible with human rights enshrined in the Constitution, the Court noted that the Latvian Constitution, as interpreted by the Constitutional Court, included the principle of nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege and required that criminal-law provisions be clear and foreseeable. Furthermore, Article 89 of the Constitution sought to ensure harmony of the constitutional provisions on human rights with international human-rights law and contained the principle of protection of human rights as such. It was also the practice of the Constitutional Court to examine the compatibility of legal provisions not only with the Constitution itself, but also with the Convention. Thus, the relevant domestic-law provisions concerning retroactive application of the criminal law and the scope of the crime itself could be challenged before the Constitutional Court as being contrary to human rights enshrined in the Constitution. Indeed, the fact that the applicants had lodged several constitutional complaints throughout their proceedings and requested the criminal courts to obtain preliminary rulings from the Constitutional Court indicated that they had actually considered it an effective remedy.
(b) Form of redress provided by constitutional review – Under the domestic law, a Constitutional Court ruling could abolish a legal provision binding on all domestic authorities and natural and legal persons which had been found incompatible with the Constitution, could invalidate the impugned legal provision from a particular date, and could define the scope of persons affected by such invalidation. The author of a successful constitutional complaint could then request the reopening or review of his case on the basis of newly discovered circumstances. Since in the fresh examination of the case the authorities would be bound by the Constitutional Court’s judgment and interpretation of the impugned provision, the remedy envisaged under Latvian law could be considered capable of providing redress in the circumstances of the applicants’ case. As to the prospects of success, if a question as to the constitutionality of a provision of criminal law were to arise, the Constitutional Court could exercise its jurisdiction on that matter once properly seized of it. Furthermore, the guarantee enshrined in Article 7 of the Convention was an essential element of the principle of the rule of law, also an issue which could be examined by the Constitutional Court. The Court thus concluded that, by not lodging a constitutional complaint once their respective criminal trials had come to an end, the applicants had failed to exhaust an effective remedy provided for by Latvian law.
Conclusion: inadmissible (failure to exhaust domestic remedies).

19363/05 – Legal Summary, [2014] ECHR 1447, 45520/04
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 35-1

Human Rights, Crime

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.542465

W and M, Regina v: CACD 27 Jul 2010

Whether or not the evidence led by the Crown as a whole established a case upon which it was properly open to the jury to conclude that the offences charged were proved to the criminal standard of proof.

Hughes LJ VP
[2010] EWCA Crim 1926
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.464667

Regina v Philippou: CA 1989

The defendants were sole directors and shareholders of their company. They appealed a conviction of theft from the company.
Held: The convictions stood. ‘Appropriates’ is to be given its ordinary English meaning, namely, ‘takes as one’s own or to oneself’.

(1989) 89 Cr App R 290, Times 06-Apr-1989
Theft Act 1968
England and Wales
Citing:
Disapproved – Regina v Roffel 19-Dec-1984
(Australia – Supreme Court of Victoria) A couple ran a clothing manufacturing business. They then formed a limited company of which they became the sole directors and shareholders and sold the business to the company. The price remained unpaid. The . .

Cited by:
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Gomez HL 3-Dec-1992
The defendant worked as a shop assistant. He had persuaded the manager to accept in payment for goods, two cheques which he knew to be stolen. The CA had decided that since the ownership of the goods was transferred on the sale, no appropriation of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Company

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.214208

Bentham, Regina v: HL 10 Mar 2005

In the course of a theft, the defendant had held his fingers in his pocket so as to suggest that he had a gun. He appealed conviction for possessing an imitation firearm.
Held: ‘Rules of statutory construction have a valuable role when the meaning of a statutory provision is doubtful, but none where, as here, the meaning is plain. Purposive construction cannot be relied on to create an offence which Parliament has not created. ‘ and ‘One cannot possess something which is not separate and distinct from oneself. An unsevered hand or finger is part of oneself. Therefore, one cannot possess it. Resort to metaphor is impermissible because metaphor is a literary device which draftsmen of criminal statutes do not employ. What is possessed must under the definition be a thing. A person’s hand or fingers are not a thing.’

Steyn Phillips, Bingham, Roger, Carswell LL
[2005] UKHL 18, Times 11-Mar-2005, [2005] 1 WLR 1057
Bailii, House of Lords
Firearms Act 1968 17(2)
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – 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 . .
Distinguished – Regina v Morris CACD 1984
The defendant had with him, with intent to commit robbery, a separate object, namely two metal pipes bound together, which had the appearance of a double-barrelled shotgun.
Held: He was properly convicted of possession of an imitation firearm. . .

Cited by:
Cited – Yearworth and others v North Bristol NHS Trust CA 4-Feb-2009
The defendant hospital had custody of sperm samples given by the claimants in the course of fertility treatment. The samples were effectively destroyed when the fridge malfunctioned. Each claimant was undergoing chemotherapy which would prevent them . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.223369

Gibson v Wallace: 1983

Where a person is in possession of an article by its nature an offensive weapon, there will be ‘a very heavy burden on any person in possession . . . to satisfy any court that he had it for such an innocent purpose’ to constitute a reasonable excuse.

[1983] 1 WLR 393
Prevention of Crime Act 1953 1
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Patterson Admn 19-Oct-2004
Prosecutor’s appeal against dismissal of charge for possession of offensive weapon. The defendant had a butterfly knife with him when arrested. the respondent went with his father to a shopping precinct at 3 o’clock on the day concerned and that he . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.220009

Yousefi, Regina v: CACD 3 Jun 2020

Appeal from conviction of three identity document offences and five dishonesty offences. They were: one offence of possession of an improperly obtained identity document with intent, contrary to section 25(1)(b) of the Identity Cards Act 2006 (count 1), two offences of possession of an identity document with improper intention, contrary to section 4(1) and (2) of the Identity Documents Act 2010 (counts 3 and 4) and five counts of fraud under section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006 (counts 5 to 9).

The Vice President Lord Justice Fulford
[2020] EWCA Crim 791
Bailii
Identity Cards Act 2006 25(1)(b), Fraud Act 2006 1
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.654503

Boyle, Regina v: CACD 9 Nov 2021

Appeal from conviction of murder on the basis i) that the jury was misled as to the extent of his previous convictions; ii) that an alternative verdict should have been left to the jury; and iii) that there was material non-disclosure on the part of the prosecution.

Lady Justice Carr,
Mr Justice Spencer,
Sir Nigel Davis
[2021] EWCA Crim 1788
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 25 December 2021; Ref: scu.670266

Bennett and Others, Regina v: CACD 19 Nov 2014

Group of appeals against conviction and sentence arising out of firearms offences committed in Chingford, East London, during 2012. The principal issue in these appeals is whether the judge erred in preparing and distributing to the jury a written chronology as a hand out to accompany his summing-up. There are also issues concerning length of sentence and whether the judge should have imposed extended sentences on certain defendants.

Jackson LJ, Davies J, tonking HHJ Rec Stafford
[2014] EWCA Crim 2652
Bailii
England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 24 December 2021; Ref: scu.540490