Category: Crime

M, Regina v; Regina v Z; Regina v I; Regina v R; Regina v B (No 2): CACD 27 Apr 2007

The defendants, accused of offences under the 2000 Act, appealed an interim finding that documents stored on computers could amount to ‘articles’ within the Act. They said that the existence of sections 57 and 58 suggested two distinct regimes, one for documents, and one for articles.
Held: The district judge should have followed Rowe. The appeal was dismissed. The defendants were not prejudiced, and any possible injustice could be dealt with later.

Judges:

Goldring J, Swift J

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 970, Times 17-May-2007

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, Terrorism Act 2000 57

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Montilla, Newbury etc CACD 3-Nov-2003
The Crown appealed a decision that a conviction under subsection 2 required proof that the money the disposal of which the defendant was accused to have assisted was in fact the proceeds of drug trafficking.
Held: Subsections 1 and 2 were . .
Preferred – Rowe v Regina CACD 15-Mar-2007
The defendant had been convicted of possessing articles for terrorist purposes, namely a notebook with notes setting out how to construct a mortar bomb in his handwriting. There was also a coded list of potential targets.
Held: The decision in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.251533

Boulton v Regina: CACD 26 Apr 2007

The defendant appealed convictions for rape and other serious sexual offences, and witness intimidation. He complained that witnesses had been allowed to have their evidence read out because of their fear of him.
Held: In view of the extent of the allegations, the judge’s aproach was correct. The appeal failed.

Judges:

Hooper LJ, Ginns LJ, Roderick Evans J

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 942

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Z (Attorney General for Northern Ireland’s Reference) HL 19-May-2005
The defendants appealed their convictions for being members of proscribed organisations. They were members of the ‘Real IRA’, but only the IRA was actually proscribed.
Held: The appeals failed. In construing an Act of Parliament it may be of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.251531

Regina v Panayiotou and Another: CACD 1973

Interfering with potential witnesses, so as to prevent or dissuade them from testifying are acts which amount to perverting the course of Justice.

Citations:

[1973] 1 WLR 1032

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Confirmed – Regina v Grimes CACD 1968
Judge Kilner Brown confirmed the existence of the crime of attempting to pervert the course of justice: ‘Certain actions such as cheating or behaving obscenely may not be offences in a private connotation, but once the public is involved, either by . .

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: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.383658

Regina v Seddon: CACD 10 Mar 2009

The court considered the concept of specialty with extradition proceedings. Hughes LJ VP said: ‘Extradition is a process involving agreement between Sovereign States. The requesting State has no power to send its policemen into the requested State to arrest a prisoner who has run away there. That would be a direct infringement of the sovereignty of the requested State. So the requesting State depends upon the voluntary co-operation of the State where the fugitive is now to be found. Unsurprisingly States found that they generally had a common interest in A surrendering prisoners to B if B asked, providing that B entered into a reciprocal agreement to surrender those whom A wanted when the boot was on the other foot. On the other hand, States generally wished to retain the power to refuse to surrender in some circumstances. To take simple but non-exhaustive examples, they might wish to refuse if the conduct complained of was not a crime in the requested State, or if it was, for example, a crime of a political character where the interests of the two States diverged.
Historically, extradition was generally achieved through separate bilateral treaties between States. Commonly the power of the requested State to refuse extradition in some circumstances was preserved by the terms of such treaties. To give effect to that practice, the principle evolved that if A requested a prisoner from B, A would identify the offence for which the prisoner was wanted, so that B could decide whether there was a sufficient reason to refuse to surrender him. With that went the practice that if surrendered the prisoner could only be dealt with for the offence for which he had been sought, otherwise plainly the surrendering State’s power to refuse would be circumvented. That principle is called specialty . . The rationale for it may owe something to the protection of the individual, but it plainly lies principally in the international obligation between States. ‘

Judges:

Hughes LJ VP, King J, Gordon HHJ

Citations:

[2009] EWCA Crim 483, [2009] 2 Cr App R 9, [2009] 1 WLR 2342

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – 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 . .
Cited – Regina v O’Brien SC 2-Apr-2014
The court considered how to apply the rule that an extradition may only be for trial on matters committed before the extradition if they have been the basis of the request to a defendant’s commission of contempt of court after conviction. After . .
Followed – Hey v Regina CACD 2010
. .
Followed – Regina v Birch CACD 2015
. .
Cited – Shepherd v Regina CACD 20-Jun-2019
Not unfair to admit statement whilst not a suspect
The defendant was in charge of a boat on the Thames. He was intoxicated as was his girlfriend. He was speeding, and allowed her to take the controls. She crashed the boat and died from her injuries. He absconded from bail, and was convicted of gross . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Extradition

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.324719

Bree, Regina v: CACD 26 Mar 2007

The defendant appealed his conviction for rape. He said the girl had consented, despite having drunk substantial quantities of alcohol.
Held: The voluntary consumption of much alcohol did not remove the possibility that the girl had consented to sex. Capacity to consent might evaporate well before she became unconscious, but it was a question of fact in each case. The Act defined consent by reference to capacity to make the choice. Any problems woiud arise not from the definition, but from the infinite variety of human life.

Judges:

Sir Igor Judge P, Hallett LJ, Gloster J

Citations:

Times 07-May-2007, [2007] EWCA Crim 804, [2007] 2 All ER 676, [2007] 3 WLR 600, [2008] QB 131

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Sexual Offences Act 2003 1 74, Criminal Justice Act 2003 74

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.251413

Gallagher, Regina v: CACD 26 Mar 2007

The defendant appealed his conviction for rape, saying that other acquittals were inconsistent.
Held: They were not. Leave refused.

Judges:

QBD P, Hallett LJ, Gloster J

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 256

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Sheehan and Moore CACD 1975
The court approved a direction of law to the jury who had been asked to conclude that the voluntary consumption of alcohol by the defendant should lead to the conclusion that he was too drunk to form the intention required for proof of the crime . .
Cited – Regina v Dougal CC 1-Nov-2005
(Swansea Crown Court) The defendant was accused of rape. He said that she had consented. The complainant gave evidence after which the prosuction declined to bring further evidence, telling the jury: ‘the prosecution are conscious of the fact that a . .
Cited – Regina v Malone CACD 1-May-1998
The defendant appealed his conviction for rape, arguing that the girl, though drunk, had consented.
Held: The Court approved the judge’s direction as follows: ‘She does not claim to have physically resisted nor to have verbally protested. She . .
Cited – Regina v Lang CACD 1976
The defendant was accused of rape. The jury sought guidance from the judge on the question of whether the complainant’s alcohol consumption may have vitiated her consent to sexual intercourse.
Held: ‘there is no special rule applicable to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.250489

Keogh v Regina: CACD 7 Mar 2007

The defendant was charged under the 1989 Act. He complained that the effect of the Act was to put an unfair burden on him to establish that he was unaware of the damaging effects of disclosure.
Held: The Act did not comply with the defendant’s human rights and should be read down so that the burden placed on the defendant was evidential only. Once he brought evidence to raise the issue that he might not have known of the effect of disclosure, it was for the prosecution to prove that he did.
Lord Philips of Worth Matravers CJ said: ‘To require a defendant to prove anything, whether positive or negative, in order to prove that he is not guilty of a crime might, on the face of it, appear to conflict with the presumption of innocence required by Article 6. To interpret Article 6 in this way would, however, conflict in some areas with the requirements of an effective criminal law and the Strasbourg Court has not so interpreted the Article.’

Judges:

Lord Phillips CJ

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 528, Times 13-Mar-2007

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Official Secrets Act 1989

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Rowe v Regina CACD 15-Mar-2007
The defendant had been convicted of possessing articles for terrorist purposes, namely a notebook with notes setting out how to construct a mortar bomb in his handwriting. There was also a coded list of potential targets.
Held: The decision in . .
Cited – Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission v Gibbons; Same v Karoonian CA 30-Oct-2012
Non-resident parents in each case appealed against suspended orders of imprisonment for non-payment of child support. They argued that the procedures used were indistinguishable from those held to be human rights non-compliant in Mubarak.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.249960

Regina v Cato and others: CACD 15 Oct 1975

The defendant had injected the deceased with heroin. He appealed his conviction for manslaughter.
Held: Proof of manslaughter requires proof that the unlawful act substantially contributed to the death of the victim.

Citations:

[1976] 1 WLR 110, [1975] EWCA Crim 5, 140 JP 169, [1976] 1 All ER 260, 62 Cr App Rep 41

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Kennedy HL 17-Oct-2007
The defendant had been convicted of manslaughter. He had supplied a class A drug to a friend who then died taking it. The House was asked ‘When is it appropriate to find someone guilty of manslaughter where that person has been involved in the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.249935

Whittle, Regina v: CACD 9 Mar 2007

The defendant appealed his sentence of five years for supplying heroin.
Held: The court had been correct not to apply the additional discounts to the Dharja guidelines. The main appeal failed, though the offence had not been one attracting the possibility of an order retsricting the defendant’s right to travel on release, and that order was revoked.

Judges:

Hooper LJ, Stanley Burnton J, Barker J Common Serjeant

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 539

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 27

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Danga CACD 1992
The defendant, aged twenty, should have been sentenced to detention in a young offender’s institution rather than imprisonment. . .
Cited – Regina v Djahit CACD 1999
The starting point for sentence in a case of supplying heroin lies in the range of between 5 and 7 years. . .
Cited – Regina v Martin (S) CACD 5-Apr-2006
The defendant appealed a nine year sentence for importation of cocaine.
Held: The notional standard was twelve years. The defendant said she should have recieved a discount of one third for her guilty plea and other mitigation. The courts . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.249962

Regina v Collis-Smith: CACD 30 Sep 1971

The defendant appealed against his conviction on a charge of: ‘obtaining property by deception contrary to Section 15(1) of the Theft Act 1968 for that you on the 24th February 1971, in the County of Warwick dishonestly obtained from William Arthur Snell 6 gallons of petrol with the intention of permanently depriving William Arthur Snell of the said petrol, by deception, namely false oral representation that you, Andrew David Collis-Smith, was authorised to draw petrol for your private motor car on the account of your employer, James Paper Sacks Limited.’ The petrol had been put in the car before he was asked how it would be paid for.
Held: The appeal was allowed: ‘he Court takes the view that as the evidence emerged in this case – leaving aside altogether the question of ownership, which might involve difficult points under the Sale of Goods Act -possession and control must certainly have been obtained at the time the petrol was put in the tank. If that be the case, neither possession nor control took place after the moment of the deception – the deception came later; and for that reason, the obtaining was obtained before the deception was made. It is perfectly true that if this charge had been laid – even under this Section – in a different form, something to the effect that there was an implied representation made that the petrol would be paid for by the buyer, or an implied representation that it would be paid for at all, and the putting of the petrol in the tank followed that, the situation might be quite different; and it is therefore desirable to emphasise that the Court is only deciding this case on the charge as it was drafted in this case, and on the evidence as it emerged in this case.’

Judges:

Megaw LJ, Cusack, Croom-Johnson JJ

Citations:

[1971] EWCA Crim 1, [1971] Crim LR 716

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Theft Act 1968 15(1)

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.249924

G v Secretary of State for the Home Department: SIAC 8 Feb 2007

Algeria is a country where torture is systematically practised by the DRS (Information and Security Department). No DRS officer has ever been prosecuted for it; and : ‘in the absence of [certain assurances from the Algerian Government] there would be a real risk that on his return to Algeria A (and persons in a similar position) would be tortured or subject to other ill-treatment’

Judges:

Stanley Burnton J

Citations:

[2007] UKSIAC 2/2005

Links:

Bailii

Cited by:

Cited – W (Algeria) and Another v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 7-Mar-2012
Each of the three appellants, suspected of terrorist activity, objected to their proposed return to Algeria on deportation, saying that it was accepted that torture was routinely used against people in their position, and without redress. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Immigration, Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.249609

Tabnak, Regina v: CACD 19 Feb 2007

The defendant appealed against his conviction under section 35 of the 2004 Act, having pleaded guilty after an adverse ruling as to the law. After being refused asylum and several failed appeals he had refused to give assistance in providing the necessary information to allow his deportation. The CPS and Home Office guidances on the section were in conflict.
Held: The restriction on use of Pepper v Hart in criminal matters had less force when, as in this case it was the defendant seeking to make use of it.

Judges:

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers LCJ, Burton J, David Clarke J

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 380, [2007] 1 WLR 1317

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004 24

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 . .
Considered – Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart HL 26-Nov-1992
Reference to Parliamentary Papers behind Statute
The inspector sought to tax the benefits in kind received by teachers at a private school in having their children educated at the school for free. Having agreed this was a taxable emolument, it was argued as to whether the taxable benefit was the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Immigration, Constitutional

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.249376

W, Regina (on the Application Of) v Director of Public Prosecutions: CA 8 Jun 2005

Breach of anti-social behaviour order order not to commit any criminal offence.

Citations:

[2005] EWCA Civ 1333

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Crime and Disorder Act 1998 1(10)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

See Also – W, Regina (on the Application Of) v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 8-Jun-2005
The defendant appealed a conviction for breaching an anti-social behaviour order. The order had prohibited him from committing any criminal act. It was now challenged as being too wide a prohibition.
Held: ‘The defendant had already been . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.229328

AMEC Building Limited and Squibb and Davies Limited v London Borough of Camden: Admn 19 Jul 1996

Citations:

[1996] EWHC Admin 41

Statutes:

Environmental Protection Act 1990 80(4), Control of Pollution Act 1974 60(8)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – A Lambert Flat Management Ltd v Lomas 1981
The court considered the relationship between the appeals procedure provided for by the regulations and the ‘reasonable excuse for non-compliance’ provisions in s.58(1)(4) of the statute.
Held: Skinner J said: ‘I prefer to look at the scheme . .
Cited – Network Housing Association Ltd v Westminster City Council QBD 7-Nov-1994
An abatement notice was addressed by the respondent city council to freehold owners of tenanted premises, in respect of a noise source which it was out of their power to stop. This was noise from perfectly normal everyday living, which reached one . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Environment, Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.136589

Regina v Burstow: Admn 29 Jul 1996

Grievous bodily harm can be inflicted by a stalker without direct physical contact and can include psychological damage. The statute could be interpreted to reflect current standards.

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill LCJ, Owen, Connell JJ

Citations:

Gazette 25-Sep-1996, Times 30-Jul-1996, [1996] EWHC Admin 49, [1997] 1 Cr App R 144

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Offences Against the Person Act 1861 20

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 Chan-Fook CACD 15-Nov-1993
‘Actual bodily harm’ under the 1861 Act, may include injury to any part of the body, including internal organs, the nervous system and the brain. It is capable of including psychiatric injury, but not mere emotion such as fear, distress or panic. . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v Burstow, Regina v Ireland HL 24-Jul-1997
The defendant was accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he had made silent phone calls which were taken as threatening.
Held: An assault might consist of the making of a silent telephone call in circumstances where it causes . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.88399

Hall v Cotton: Admn 1987

The first defendant held a shotgun certificate and owned two shotguns. He left them at the home of the second defendant, who had no certificate, while they and their families went on holiday together. On their return, the second defendant agreed to clean the guns but, before he returned them, the police intervened. The first defendant was charged with transferring without a dealer’s license, and the second defendant was charged with possession. The justices acquitted both men.
Held: Whether a person is in possession of a weapon is a question of fact; possession can be proprietary and/or custodial. A person does not have to have physical control of the firearm nor does she/he have to be present in the place where the firearms are kept in order to be in possession of them.

Judges:

Stocker LJ

Citations:

[1987] QB 504

Jurisdiction:

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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.651060

Regina v Huy Vinh Quach: 7 May 2010

Supreme Court of Victoria – Court of Appeal – CRIMINAL LAW – Referral of questions of law – Misconduct in public office – Common law offence – Elements of offence – Necessary relationship between public office and alleged conduct for purposes of offence – Whether conduct must occur ‘in relation to’ office – Whether public officer must be acting ‘as such’ – How seriousness of misconduct is to be described.
As to the common law offence of misconduct in public office, the court stated that ‘the proper formulation of the offence requires the element [‘acting as such’] to be expressed so that it encompasses the circumstance in which the offender’s misconduct, though not occurring while the offender was discharging a function or duty, had a sufficient connection to their public office. Whether the misconduct was so connected will turn upon the facts of the case’. However, the court emphasised that ‘The misconduct must be incompatible with the proper discharge of the responsibilities of the office’. The court approved the statement that ‘the kernel of the offence is that an officer, having been entrusted with powers and duties for the public benefit, has in some way abused them, or has abused his official position’.

Judges:

ASHLEY and REDLICH JJA and HANSEN AJA

Citations:

[2010] VSCA 106, 27 VR 310, 201 A Crim R 522

Links:

Austlii

Jurisdiction:

Australia

Cited by:

Cited – Johnson v Westminster Magistrates’ Court Admn 3-Jul-2019
Public Office Misconduct – Acting As not While
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision to issue a summons against him alleging three offences of misconduct in public office. He was said to have issue misleading statements in support of the campaign leading up to the Referendum on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.639247

Regina v Muscroft: CACD 2001

Need for expert evidence in cases where there is a background of domestic violence and such evidence meets the criteria for admissibility as expert testimony

Citations:

[2001] EWCA Crim 604

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Challen, Regina v CACD 28-Feb-2019
Appeal from conviction for murder. The defendant had killed her husband with a hammer. She said that he had, through his controlling behaviour, abused her over many years.
Held: The verdict of manslaughter was substituted. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.638543

Challen, Regina v: CACD 28 Feb 2019

Appeal from conviction for murder. The defendant had killed her husband with a hammer. She said that he had, through his controlling behaviour, abused her over many years.
Held: The verdict of manslaughter was substituted.

Judges:

Hallet DBE LJ VP CACD, Seeney, Cheema-Grubb DBE JJ

Citations:

[2019] EWCA Crim 916

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Hobson CACD 25-Jun-1997
The defendant was given a retrial. There had been developments after her conviction of the understanding of battered woman’s syndrome which might have given a defence at trial. . .
Cited – Smith, Regina v CACD 4-Nov-2002
The defendant appealed from her conviction for the murder of her husband, saying that she had been subject to abuse over many years, and was subject to long term depression.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The court had not given proper weight . .
Cited – Regina v Muscroft CACD 2001
Need for expert evidence in cases where there is a background of domestic violence and such evidence meets the criteria for admissibility as expert testimony . .
Cited – Regina v Thornton (SE) (No 2) CACD 6-Jun-1996
Battered woman syndrome may be part of provocation if it causes a loss of control. The history of the relationship between the appellant and the deceased could properly be taken into account in deciding whether the final provocation was enough to . .
Cited – Regina v Turner (Terence) CACD 1974
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder. He admitted that he had killed his girlfriend with a hammer, but sought to bring psychiatric evidence that he was susceptible to provocation.
Held: The law jealously guards the role of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.638236

The Director of Public Prosecutions v SK: Admn 10 Feb 2016

The prosecutor appealed against dismissal of a charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The defendant had completed somebody else’s community service sentence. The prosecutor said that such an act did affect something ‘in the course of justice.’
Held: The appeal succeeded: ‘ I would reject the notion that the facts forming the basis of this offence break new ground even though the example may not have previously been analysed by the court. As in cases involving restraint orders, this case also concerns continuing and ongoing criminal process intended to enforce the requirement to undertake unpaid work. To that end, providing cover for the failure to perform such work perverts (perhaps better here understood as frustrates) the course of justice. Given that in this case there was a prospect that breach could be brought, it is unnecessary to consider whether the offence could be proved by showing that there had been a dishonest interference with a sentence which is no longer extant, for example where an order for unpaid work had been revoked because of the apparent ill health of the offender but it subsequently emerged that he had conspired with others to feign injury. ‘

Citations:

[2016] EWHC 837 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Vreones 1891
It was alleged that the defendant had tampered with a sample of wheat to be used in an arbitration, and he was accused of perverting the course of justice.
Held: Perverting the course of justice is a common law offence covering a wide variety . .
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 – Director of Public Prosecution v Withers HL 20-Nov-1974
The House was asked to consider whether there existed the crime of a conspiracy to commit a public mischief.
Held: There was no such crime, since it was so undefined as to be unfair to any defendant. Although at common law no clear distinction . .
Cited – Regina v Clark CACD 4-Apr-2003
The defendant had been involved in a car crash. He drove his car home, and reported the accident only the following day. He appealed against a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice, having defeated any possibility of his being . .
Cited – 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: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.571402

Shum Kwok Sher: 2002

Final Court of Appeal, Hong Kong. A senior government officer had used his position to provide preferential treatment to a company and its directors to whom he was related. He appealed against his conviction for misconduct in public office.
Held: The court considered the elements of a charge of misconduct in public office as regards the degree of culpability required.
Sir Anthony Mason said: ‘There must be a serious departure from proper standards before the criminal offence is committed; and a departure not merely negligent but amounting to an affront to the standing of the public office held. The threshold is a high one requiring conduct so far below acceptable standards as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder. A mistake, even a serious one, will not suffice. The motive with which a public officer acts may be relevant to the decision whether the public’s trust is abused by the conduct . . the element of culpability must be of such a degree that the misconduct impugned is calculated to injure the public interest so as to call for condemnation and punishment . . The conduct cannot be considered in a vacuum: the consequences likely to flow from it, viewed subjectively as in R v G will often influence the decision as to whether the conduct amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust in the officer . . There will be some conduct which possess the criminal quality even if serious consequences are unlikely, but it is always necessary to assess the conduct in the circumstances in which it occurs.’
Discussing the judgment in Dytham, Sir Anthony Mason said: ‘Read in context, the words suggest that his Lordship was endeavouring to convey the idea that the conduct complained of must be injurious to the public interest and of a sufficiently serious nature to warrant conviction and punishment. The linkage his Lordship makes with the idea of culpability reinforces this view of his lordship’s purpose. In this respect, it is to be noted that Lord Widgery employs the concept of culpability to embrace two different matters, namely first the absence of reasonable excuse and justification and secondly that the conduct complained of may not involve corruption or dishonesty but must be of a sufficiently serious nature.
The second point is that there was no clear previous authority for the proposition that, in any category of case of misconduct in public office the prosecution must prove to the satisfaction of a jury, as elements of the offence, that the conduct of the defendant was calculated to injure the public interest so as to call for condemnation and punishment.’

Judges:

Sir Anthony Mason

Citations:

[2002] 5 HKFAR 381

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Dytham CACD 1979
A constable was 30 yards away from the entrance to a club, from which he saw a man ejected. There was a fight involving cries and screams and the man was beaten and kicked to death in the gutter outside the club. The constable made no move to . .

Cited by:

Cited – ABC and Others, Regina v CACD 26-Mar-2015
Several defendants sought to appeal against convictions. They were public officials accused of having committed misconduct in public office in the sale of information relating to their work to journalists. The journalists were convicted of . .
Cited – Johnson v Westminster Magistrates’ Court Admn 3-Jul-2019
Public Office Misconduct – Acting As not While
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision to issue a summons against him alleging three offences of misconduct in public office. He was said to have issue misleading statements in support of the campaign leading up to the Referendum on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

International, Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.545601

Director of Public Prosecution v Cotcher: Admn 7 Dec 1992

Evans LJ discussed the offence of affray saying that the court can take into account the reaction of other people who were present: ‘are in no sense bound to conclude that the statutory test was not satisfied merely because those persons were not apparently affected, any more than they would be bound to conclude that the test was satisfied when it appeared that some bystanders were affected. It is a matter for the justices to take into account applying those objective tests.’

Judges:

Evans LJ

Citations:

[1993] WL 964519

Statutes:

Public Order Act 1986 3(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Freeman, Regina (on The Application of) v Department of Public Prosecution Admn 5-Feb-2013
The defendant appealed his conviction for affray saying that since there was only one person present and the magistrates, having seen CCTV of the events had not taken other evidence.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘it was quite open to the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.519431

Smith, Regina v: CACD 4 Nov 2002

The defendant appealed from her conviction for the murder of her husband, saying that she had been subject to abuse over many years, and was subject to long term depression.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The court had not given proper weight to the expert evidence as to the defendant’s mental condition.

Judges:

Rose VP CACD LJ, Hughes, Royce JJ

Citations:

[2002] EWCA Crim 2671

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Homicide Act 1957 3

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Challen, Regina v CACD 28-Feb-2019
Appeal from conviction for murder. The defendant had killed her husband with a hammer. She said that he had, through his controlling behaviour, abused her over many years.
Held: The verdict of manslaughter was substituted. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.270003

Southard v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 9 Nov 2006

The defendant’s brother was stopped and searched by a police officer. While this search was going on the defendant approached and swore at the PC on two occasions, interfering with the search. He was cautioned after the first swearing incident and arrested after the second.
Held: Whether the person addressed is a police officer or a member of the public, the words ‘fuck you’ or ‘fuck off’ are potentially abusive, and may form the basis of a charge under the section.
Fulford J said: ‘Frequently though they may be used these days, we have not yet reached the stage where a court is required to conclude that those words are of such little significance that they no longer constitute abuse. Questions of context and circumstance may affect the court’s ultimate conclusion as to whether, in an individual case, they are abusive, but on these facts, during an incident in which the appellant was strongly opposing the detention of his brother, they were delivered in a situation which sustainably led the court to conclude that they were abusive. I stress that the decision on an issue of this kind will always be fact dependent.’

Judges:

Fulford J, Latham LJ

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 3449 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Public Order Act 1986 591) 5(6)

Cited by:

Cited – Harvey v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 17-Nov-2011
The appellant had been approached and searched by police officers and swore at them. He now appealed against a conviction under section 5 of the 1986 Act.
Held: The use of the word ‘fuck’ was common in such situations. Neither officer had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.249152

Shaw v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 25 Jan 2007

The defendant appealed by case started against his conviction for having custody of a dog whilst subject to a prohibition order.

Judges:

Scott Barker LJ, David Clarke J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 207 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act 1954

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Animals, Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248942

D’Souza v Director of Public Prosecutions: HL 15 Oct 1992

The police went to detain the appellant under the 1983 Act. To do so they entered the property against her wishes. She resisted detention, and now appealed her conviction for assaulting the Police officers in the execution of their duty, saying that the entry was unlawful, and that detention under the 1983 Act was not an arrest.
Held: The officers could not claim to have been in pursuit of her so as to justify the entry to the property. The case was remitted for the convictions to be discharged.

Judges:

Lord Keith of Kinke, Lord Roskil, Lord Jauncey of Tullichettl, Lord Lowr, Lord Browne-Wilkinson

Citations:

[1992] UKHL 10, [1992] 4 All ER 545, [1992] 1 WLR 1073

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Police Act 1964 51(1), Mental Health Act 1983 137, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 17(1)(d)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Edwards (Inspector of Taxes) v Bairstow HL 25-Jul-1955
The House was asked whether a particular transaction was ‘an adventure in the nature of trade’.
Held: Although the House accepted that this was ‘an inference of fact’, on the primary facts as found by the Commissioners ‘the true and only . .
Cited – Hart v Chief Constable of Kent QBD 1983
The defendant had an accident while driving a car and was tracked to his home by a police dog. He gave a positive specimen of breath standing partly inside and partly outside the house. When told he was being arrested he pulled back into the house . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Police

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248755

Connolly v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 15 Feb 2007

The defendant appealed against her conviction under the Act for having sent indecent or grossly offensive material through the post in the form of pictures of an aborted foetus sent to pharmacists. She denied that they were offensive, or that she wished to cause distress, and said she wished to educate the pharmacists as to the effect of the ‘Morning After Pill’, and said that a conviction would infringe her right of free speech.
Held: Having seen the photographs no tribunal could be criticised for calling them grossly offensive. This was however not purely an issue about the sending of an offensive article, and the appellant’s article 10 freedom of speech rights were engaged. Applying Ghaidan, section 1 of the 1988 Act could be read to impose a higher standard of offensiveness to found a conviction, and its interpretation will therefore vary with the context. The case stated gave no record of how the court had treated the defendant’s article 10 rights. The court had to balance also the rights of the recipients of the letters: ‘the persons who worked in the three pharmacies which were targeted by Mrs Connolly had the right not to have sent to them material of the kind that she sent when it was her purpose, or one of her purposes, to cause distress or anxiety to the recipient. Just as members of the public have the right to be protected from such material (sent for such a purpose) in the privacy of their homes, so too, in general terms, do people in the workplace. But it must depend on the circumstances. ‘ On the issues not dealt with by the case stated, the court was as able to make findings as the original court, and there was no need to remit the case. The Article 10 appeal was dismissed. The defendant’s article 9 rights of freedom of thought and religion held no higher status.

Judges:

Dyson LJ, Stanley Burnton J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 237 (Admin), [2008] 1 WLR 276

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Malicious Communications Act 1988 1(1)(b) 1(4), European Convention on Human Rights 9 10

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Stanley CACD 1965
Lord Parker considered dicta as to the meaning of the expression ‘indecent or obscene’: ‘This court entirely agrees with what Lord Sands there said. The words ‘indecent or obscene’ convey one idea, namely, offending against the recognised standards . .
Cited – Moyna v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 31-Jul-2003
The appellant had applied for and been refused disability living allowance on the basis of being able to carry out certain cooking tasks.
Held: The purpose of the ‘cooking test’ is not to ascertain whether the applicant can survive, or enjoy a . .
Cited – Brutus v Cozens HL 19-Jul-1972
The House was asked whether the conduct of the defendant at a tennis match at Wimbledon amounted to using ‘insulting words or behaviour’ whereby a breach of the peace was likely to be occasioned contrary to section 5. He went onto court 2, blew a . .
Cited – Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza HL 21-Jun-2004
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession
The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy.
Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law . .
Cited – Regina v Shayler HL 21-Mar-2002
The defendant had been a member of the security services. On becoming employed, and upon leaving, he had agreed to keep secret those matters disclosed to him. He had broken those agreements and was being prosecuted. He sought a decision that the . .
Cited – Jersild v Denmark ECHR 20-Oct-1994
A journalist was wrongly convicted himself of spreading racial hatred by quoting racists in his material.
Held: Freedom of expression is one of the essential foundations of a democratic society. The safeguards to be afforded to the press are . .
Cited – Chassagnou and Others v France ECHR 29-Apr-1999
A law permitted local authorities to oblige landowners to transfer hunting rights over private land to approved hunting associations. The landowners could not prevent hunting on their property. Landowners so affected were made members automatically . .
Cited – Muller And Others v Switzerland ECHR 24-May-1988
The Court considered a complaint that Article 10 had been infringed by the applicant’s conviction of an offence of publishing obscene items, consisting of paintings which were said ‘mostly to offend the sense of sexual propriety of persons of . .
Cited – Kokkinakis v Greece ECHR 25-May-1993
The defendant was convicted for proselytism contrary to Greek law. He claimed a breach of Article 9.
Held: To say that Jehovah’s Witness were proselytising criminally was excessive. Punishment for proselytising was unlawful in the . .
Cited – Regina v British Broadcasting Corporation ex parte Pro-life Alliance HL 15-May-2003
The Alliance was a political party seeking to air its party election broadcast. The appellant broadcasters declined to broadcast the film on the grounds that it was offensive, being a graphical discussion of the processes of abortion.
Held: . .
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 by:

Cited – Lukaszewski v The District Court In Torun, Poland SC 23-May-2012
Three of the appellants were Polish citizens resisting European Arrest Warrants. A fourth (H), a British citizen, faced extradition to the USA. An order for the extradition of eachhad been made, and acting under advice each filed a notice of appeal . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248835

Bratty v Attorney General of Northern Ireland: HL 3 Oct 1961

The Court of Criminal Appeal of Northern Ireland certified that their decision involved two points of law of general public importance, namely whether, the defendant’s plea of insanity having been rejected by the jury, it was open to the accused to rely upon a defence of automatism: and, if the answer to (1) be in the affirmative, whether, on the evidence, the defence of automatism should have been left to the jury.
Lord Denning said: ‘No act is punishable if it is done involuntarily: and an involuntary act in this context – some people nowadays prefer to speak of it as ‘automatism’-means an act which is done by the muscles without any control by the mind, such as a spasm, a reflex action or a convulsion; or an act done by a person who is not conscious of what he is doing, such as an act done whilst suffering from concussion or whilst sleep-walking. The point was well put by Stephen J. in 1889: ‘ Can anyone doubt that a man who, though he might’ be perfectly sane, committed what would otherwise be a crime in a state’ of somnambulism, would be entitled to be acquitted? And why is this?’ Simply because he would not know what he was doing’, see Reg. v Tolson. The term ‘ involuntary act is, however, capable of wider connotations: and to prevent confusion it is to be observed that in the criminal law an act is not to be regarded as an involuntary act simply because the doer does not remember it.’ and
‘ Nor is an act to be regarded as an involuntary act simply because it is unintentional or its consequences are unforeseen.’ and ‘Another thing to be observed is that it is not every involuntary act which leads to a complete acquittal. Take first an involuntary act which proceeds from a state of drunkenness. If the drunken man is so drunk that he does not know what he is doing, he has a defence to any charge, such as murder or wounding with intent, in which a specific intent is essential, but he is still liable to be convicted of manslaughter or unlawful wounding for which no specific intent is necessary, see Beard’s case.’

Judges:

Lord Chancellor, Lord Tucker, Lord Denning, Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest, Lord Hodson

Citations:

[1961] UKHL 3, [1963] AC 386, [1961] 3 All ER 523

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Citing:

Followed – Attorney-General for Northern Ireland v Gallagher HL 1961
The defendant appealed against his conviction for the murder of his wife. The court allowed his appeal on the ground of a misdirection. The prosecutor having now appealed, he sought to plead insanity.
Held: The appeal was allowed on the new . .
Disapproved – Regina v Charlson 1955
The defendant father struck his 10 year old son on the head with a mallet , and was charged with three (3) offences of Grievous Harm , two (2) of which required specific intentions to be proved.
Held: The court proceeded on the assumption that . .

Cited by:

Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Majewski HL 1976
The defendant took a cocktail of drink and drugs and, whilst intoxicated, assaulted pub landlord. He said that he did not know what he was doing, and had no mens rea, that self-induced intoxication could be a defence to a charge of assault, and that . .
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: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248541

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 basic intent.
Held: The appeal was dismissed. The offence was one of basic intent.
A provision in a consolidating Act, must be taken to have incorporated the law as it stood. Lord Scarman said: ‘The earlier statute law, therefore, and judicial decisions as to its meaning and purpose are very relevant, if there be any difficulty or ambiguity.’

Judges:

Lord Wilberforce, Lord Simon of Glaisdale, Lord Russell of Killowen, Lord Scarman, Lord Bridge of Harwich

Citations:

[1982] UKHL 9, [1982] 1 All ER 993, [1982] 1 WLR 451, (1982) 75 Cr App R 7, [1982] Crim LR 430
House of Lords

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Coinage Offences Act 1936 1(1)(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v George 1960
(Canada) Fauteux J described the difference between a crime of basic intent and one of specific intent: ‘In considering the question of mens rea, a distinction is to be made between (i) intention as applied to acts considered in relation to their . .
Cited – Dickins v Gill 1896
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 . .
Cited – Farrell v Alexander HL 24-Jun-1976
The House considered the construction of a consolidation Act.
Held: It is ordinarily both unnecessary and undesirable to construe a consolidation Act by reference to statutory antecedents, but it is permissible to do so in a case where the . .
Cited – Selby v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 1972
The House, by a majority, discounted the significance of the requirement in the statute for an act ‘with intent to defraud’. The word ‘uttering’ involved inherently a fraudulent intent. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248664

Regina v Rooney: CA 12 Jul 2006

The appellant appealed her conviction under the 1998 Act. As a police support worker, she had used the Force’s computer to access information about former boyfriend. She replied that the access was simply for the purpose of ensuring the records were up to date. She now said that to say to her sister that the data subjects ‘lived in Tunstall’ was not personal data since it did not suffciently identify the subjects and that her acquittals on some charges amounted to inconsistent verdicts.
Held: The appeal failed. The defendant had not shown that the verdicts were logically inconsistent.

Judges:

Gage LJ, Bean J, Goldsack J

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 1841

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Data Protection Act 1998

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v B CACD 15-May-1997
The Court upheld a conviction in respect of an Appellant who had been convicted of three offences on a six-count indictment. He was acquitted of the other three. In respect of each of the six counts the Prosecution relied upon the uncorroborated . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Information

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248237

Regina v Francis; CPS Leicester, Regina v: CACD 21 Dec 2006

Whilst in custody in the police station, the defendant was visited by the police surgeon. He was accused of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress after abusing the doctor. The Crown appealed acceptance of his defence that the cell was for the time being his residence under section 31 of the 1986 Act which provided that an offence would not be committed by the use of such words by a person inside a dwelling.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded: ‘A police cell is not a home. It is not ‘other accommodation where a person lives’, even though a person detained in a police cell may from time to time do the same things which he or she may do in this own home, or in the place where he or she lives. The judge was accordingly wrong to rule that the police cell came within the exception to subsection (2) of section 4A. A police cell is a place where a person is detained in custody, not a place which a person occupies as living accommodation.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Moses, Mr Justice Goldring and Judge Martin Stephens

Citations:

[2007] 1 WLR 1021, Times 17-Jan-2007, [2006] EWCA Crim 3323

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Crime and Disorder Act 1998 31(1)(b), Public Order Act 1986 4A

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – The Director of Public Prosecutions v Distill Admn 8-Sep-2017
Dwelling did not include the garden
The DPP appealed by case stated from a decision dismissing a prosecution for racially aggravated use of threatening words or behaviour. Both parties, neighbours, had been in their back gardens when the defendant was said to have shouted racial . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248005

Bird, Regina v: CACD 22 Mar 1985

The court considered the factors to be accounted in a defence of self-defence. Lord Lane LCJ said: ‘If the defendant is proved to have been attacking or retaliating or revenging himself, then he was not truly acting in self-defence. Evidence that the defendant tried to retreat or call off the fight may be a cast-iron method of casting doubt on the suggestion that he was the attacker or retaliator or the person trying to revenge himself. But it is not by any means the only method of doing that.’

Judges:

Lord Lane LCJ, Skinner, Simon Brown JJ

Citations:

[1985] EWCA Crim 2, [1985] 2 All ER 513, [1985] 1 WLR 816, (1985) 81 Cr App R 110

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Brooks v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 6-Mar-2015
Appeal by case stated against a decision of the Justices to convict the appellant of the offence of battery contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
The question for the opinion of this court was: 1. ‘Did we apply the correct . .
Cited – Skelton, Regina (on The Application of) v Winchester Crown Court Admn 5-Dec-2017
The Court was asked whether the Crown Court could properly refuse to state a case for the opinion of the divisional court, having convicted a defendant, on her appeal from the magistrates’ court, of an offence of common assault. She was evicted from . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.247954

Regina v Adams: CACD 12 Jan 2007

The defendant appealed against his conviction in 1993 for murder.

Judges:

Gage LJ, Silber, Treacy JJ

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 1, [2007] 1 Cr App R 34

Links:

Bailii

Cited by:

See Also – Adams, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice CA 27-Nov-2009
The claimant sought compensation for his imprisonment after the overturning of his conviction, on the basis that evidence had emerged which undermined the conviction.
Held: Such a claim could not succeed where the reason for the non-use of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.247936

Regina v Denton: CACD 22 Oct 1981

The defendant was charged with criminal damage by setting fire to a building. It was owned by a company which in turn he owned.
Held: There is nothing unlawful about destroying one’s own property

Judges:

Lord Lane LCJ, Mustill, McCullough JJ

Citations:

[1982] 1 All ER 65, [1981] 1 WLR 1446, [1981] EWCA Crim 4

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Damage Act 1971 1(2) 1(3)

Crime

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.247942

Regina v Selvage, Morgan: CACD 1981

A conspiracy to effect some other unlawfulness but which has no tendency to cause a miscarriage of justice in curial proceedings, is not a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. If no proceedings of any kind are in contemplation at the time the relevant act by the accused was done, then there is no interference with the course of justice.
Unless the principles governing the offence of perverting the course of justice which emerge from the reported cases are well recognised and properly applied there is a danger of bringing into existence a hitherto unrecognised and unwarranted extension of the ambit of this offence. Caution is required in extending the ambit of this offence.
Watkins LJ gave an illustrative list of instances of perverting the course of justice: ‘That conduct includes giving false information to the police with the object of among other things putting the police on a false trail, obstructing the police in their inquiries into crime, the destruction of or other interferences with evidence and bringing wrongful influence to bear upon witnesses or potential witnesses.’ He went on to urge caution in extending the ambit of the offence to new fact patterns: ‘In our judgment unless the principles governing the offence of perverting the course of justice which emerge from the reported cases are well recognised and properly applied there is a danger of bringing into existence a hitherto unrecognised and unwarranted extension of the ambit of this offence.’

Judges:

Watkins LJ

Citations:

[1982] QB 372, [1982] 1 All ER 96, (1981) 73 Cr App R 333

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Clark CACD 4-Apr-2003
The defendant had been involved in a car crash. He drove his car home, and reported the accident only the following day. He appealed against a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice, having defeated any possibility of his being . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.181078

Regina v Murray: CACD 1973

The appellant had tampered with his part of a specimen of blood. He appealed his conviction on the basis that this act was incapable of having a tendency to pervert the course of justice because it was done in private.
Held: There must be evidence that the man has done enough for there to be a risk without further action by him that injustice will result, there must be a possibility that what he has done ‘without more’ might lead to injustice. He does not himself have to introduce the evidence into the process of justice . . it is sufficient that what he has done ‘without more’ has a tendency to produce that result. To establish a tendency or a possibility you do not have to prove that the tendency or the possibility in fact materialised. Appeal dismissed

Citations:

75 Crim App R 58

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Clark CACD 4-Apr-2003
The defendant had been involved in a car crash. He drove his car home, and reported the accident only the following day. He appealed against a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice, having defeated any possibility of his being . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.181077

Regina v Sookoo: CACD 20 Mar 2002

The defendant appealed against his sentence for attempting to pervert the course of justice and theft. He had received a sentence of six months for the theft and nine months consecutive for perverting the course of justice
Held: Allowing the appeal. He had given a false name to the police on being arrested. It was proper to bring a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice only. It was right to charge such an offence only where there were seriously aggravating features such as wasted police time and resources or where others, whose names had been given, had been detained. No such factor operated here. Three months concurrent was substituted.

Judges:

Lord Justice Judge, Mr Justice Douglas Brown and Mr Justice Field

Citations:

Times 10-Apr-2002, [2002] EWCA Crim 800

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Theft Act 1968 1

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Explained – Regina v Clark CACD 4-Apr-2003
The defendant had been involved in a car crash. He drove his car home, and reported the accident only the following day. He appealed against a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice, having defeated any possibility of his being . .
Cited – 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.

Criminal Sentencing, Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.168537

Regina v Thornton (Sara): CACD 13 Dec 1995

Battered women’s syndrome may be a relevant characteristic in a murder trial to be taken account of when judging context of provocation.

Judges:

Lord Taylor of Gosforth LCJ

Citations:

Independent 19-Dec-1995, Times 14-Dec-1995, Gazette 07-Feb-1996, [1996] 2 All ER 1023, [1995] EWCA Crim 6, [1996] 2 Cr App R 108, [1996] 1 WLR 1174

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

See Also – Regina v Thornton (SE) (No 2) CACD 6-Jun-1996
Battered woman syndrome may be part of provocation if it causes a loss of control. The history of the relationship between the appellant and the deceased could properly be taken into account in deciding whether the final provocation was enough to . .
Cited – Williams v The Queen PC 23-Nov-1998
(Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) The defendant was convicted of having killed his wife. He had killed his children but faced no charge on that issue. He complained of the admission of evidence showing that he had killed the children. In his . .
Cited – Luc Thiet Thuan v The Queen PC 2-Apr-1996
(Hong Kong) On a trial for murder the defendant relied on the defences of diminished responsibility and provocation. Medical evidence showed the defendant suffered from brain damage and was prone to respond to minor provocation by losing his . .
Cited – Regina v Parker CACD 25-Feb-1997
The defendant appealed his conviction for murder, saying that his defence of provocation should have been left for the jury.
Held: Not following Luc, it was open to admit relevant evidence on the defendant’s capacity for self-control. Having . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.88183

Regina v Rafique and Others: CACD 23 Apr 1993

Acts carried out before the start of enquiry which was intended to interfere with that enquiry may still pervert cause of justice. Here a body or weapon had been hidden in order to impede the inquiry.

Citations:

Independent 23-Apr-1993, Gazette 16-Jun-1993, [1993] QB 843, [1993] 97 Cr App R 395

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Rex v Tibbits and Windust 1902
The editor published articles prepared by a reporter, affecting the conduct and character of some persons under trial. Both the editor and the reporter were charged with unlawfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Held: Lord . .
Cited – Rex v Tibbits and Windust 1902
The editor published articles prepared by a reporter, affecting the conduct and character of some persons under trial. Both the editor and the reporter were charged with unlawfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Held: Lord . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Clark CACD 4-Apr-2003
The defendant had been involved in a car crash. He drove his car home, and reported the accident only the following day. He appealed against a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice, having defeated any possibility of his being . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.87590

Regina v Thornton (SE) (No 2): CACD 6 Jun 1996

Battered woman syndrome may be part of provocation if it causes a loss of control. The history of the relationship between the appellant and the deceased could properly be taken into account in deciding whether the final provocation was enough to make the statutory ordinary person act as he did.

Citations:

Times 06-Jun-1996, [1996] 1 WLR 1174

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See Also – Regina v Thornton (Sara) CACD 13-Dec-1995
Battered women’s syndrome may be a relevant characteristic in a murder trial to be taken account of when judging context of provocation. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Williams v The Queen PC 23-Nov-1998
(Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) The defendant was convicted of having killed his wife. He had killed his children but faced no charge on that issue. He complained of the admission of evidence showing that he had killed the children. In his . .
Cited – Challen, Regina v CACD 28-Feb-2019
Appeal from conviction for murder. The defendant had killed her husband with a hammer. She said that he had, through his controlling behaviour, abused her over many years.
Held: The verdict of manslaughter was substituted. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.88186

Data Protection Registrar v Amnesty International (British Section): Admn 8 Nov 1994

The defendants had been charged with recklessly holding and then disclosing information about named individuals. It had exchanged a list of potential addressee’s for use in mailing lists with another charity.
Held: Recklessness is defined by reference to the defendant’s foresight of the consequences as listed in the section, rather than the degree of harm to the data subject. The magistrate had confused the seriousness of the consequences of the breach with the breach itself. The appeal against the dismissal of the charges failed. To establish recklessness, the prosecution ‘must prove first that there is something in the circumstances that would have drawn the attention of an ordinary, prudent individual to the possibility that this act was capable of causing the kind of mischief that sections 5(2) and 5(5) are intended to prevent and that the risk of those mischiefs occurring was not so slight that the ordinary, prudent individual would feel justified in regarding them as negligible. Secondly the prosecution must prove that before doing the act, the defendant either failed to give any thought to the possibility of their being such a risk, or, having recognised that there was such a risk, he nevertheless went on to do it.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Rose and Mr Justice Scott Baker

Citations:

Times 23-Nov-1994, CO 1323/94, [1995] Crim L R 633

Statutes:

Data Protection Act 1984 5(2) 5(5)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Lawrence (Stephen) HL 1981
The defendant had ridden a motor-cycle and hit a pedestrian. The court asked whether he had been reckless.
Held: The House understood recklessness as ‘a state of mind stopping short of deliberate intention, and going beyond mere inadvertence’ . .
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 . .

Cited by:

Cited – Information Commissioner v Islington London Borough Council Admn 24-May-2002
The commissioner appealed a dismissal of her case against a council, complaining that the council knowingly or recklessly used personal data for the collection of council tax, for which registration had expired.
Held: It was not necessary to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.79818

Chall, Regina v: CACD 16 May 2019

The Court gave guidance as to the approach a sentencing judge should take when assessing for the purposes of a relevant sentencing guideline whether a victim of crime has suffered severe psychological harm.

Citations:

[2019] EWCA Crim 865

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.638240

Director of Public Prosecutions v Armstrong: QBD 5 Nov 1999

The prosecutor appealed from dismissal of a case of inciting the supply of indecent photographs of children. The person said to have been incited was an incognito police officer who had no intention of making the supply. The appeal succeeded. ‘In considering whether there is a defence of impossibility the court must look carefully at what it is that the person incited has been asked to do. In this case the officer was asked to supply child pornography. The fact that he did not intend to do so is irrelevant. The request made to the police officer was in general terms for child pornography and one which he could have met from material in the police’s possession, as the findings of the magistrate made clear. The officer could therefore have committed the offence which he had been asked to commit. It cannot therefore be said that it was impossible for him to do so. ‘

Citations:

[1999] EWHC QB 270, [2000] Crim LR 379

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.263149

Nedrick-Smith v -Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 15 Nov 2006

Appeals against conviction of an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, contrary to section 47 the 1861 Act. It is common ground that Heather Lewis was assaulted on 6th November 2005 when she was attacked in her home. It is further common ground that during the incident blows were struck by three women, and that no blows were struck by the appellant. The question for the magistrates was whether the appellant was a party to the attack, a party to a joint enterprise.

Judges:

Waller LJ, Lllyd-Jones J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 3015 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Offences Against the Person Act 1861 47

Crime

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.246756

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 present it on interview.
Held: The appeal succeded. The Act was ill drafted but not ambiguous as to what was required of him at interview – was it an original passport or the one presented by him on entry. The Act required the production of an original passport, and he therefore had a reasonable excuse for not producing one, it having been impossible to obtain one in his country of origin. The court questioned the use of the Pepper v Hart doctrine in a criminal trial.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers said: ‘I would, however, question the use of Pepper v Hart in the context of a criminal prosecution. Mr Chalk was not able to refer the court to any case in which Pepper v Hart has been used in that context. If a criminal statute is ambiguous, I would question whether it is appropriate by the use of Pepper v Hart to extend the ambit of the statute so as to impose criminal liability upon a defendant where in the absence of Parliamentary material the court would not do so. It seems to me at least arguable that if a criminal statute is ambiguous the defendant should have the benefit of the ambiguity.’

Judges:

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Chief Justice and Mr Justice Roderick Evans

Citations:

Times 01-Nov-2006, [2006] EWHC 2701 (Admin), [2007] 1 WLR 2022, [2007] 2 All ER 425

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Act 2004

Citing:

Considered – Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart HL 26-Nov-1992
Reference to Parliamentary Papers behind Statute
The inspector sought to tax the benefits in kind received by teachers at a private school in having their children educated at the school for free. Having agreed this was a taxable emolument, it was argued as to whether the taxable benefit was the . .

Cited by:

Cited – Tabnak, Regina v CACD 19-Feb-2007
The defendant appealed against his conviction under section 35 of the 2004 Act, having pleaded guilty after an adverse ruling as to the law. After being refused asylum and several failed appeals he had refused to give assistance in providing the . .
Cited – 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). . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Immigration, Constitutional

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.246361

Valentine v Regina: CACD 10 Nov 2006

The defendant appealed his sentence for conspiracy to supply counterfeit drugs.
Held: The defendant need only serve the sentence if he failed to pay a penalty which the court had decided he could afford to pay. Appeal dismissed.

Judges:

Scott Baker LJ, Holland J, Loraine-Smith J

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 2717

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Medicines Act 1968 8, Trade Marks Act 1994 92, Criminal Justice Act 1988 72AA, Drug Trafficking Act 1994 4(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime, Intellectual Property

Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.246056