Category: Crime

Regina v Byrne: CACD 15 Feb 2002

Judges:

Mr Justice Aikens

Citations:

[2002] EWCA Crim 632

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Bell, Regina v CACD 19-Jan-2010
The defendant appealed against his conviction, saying that it had taken place only at the prosecution’s third attempt, the two earlier trials reaching no majority verdict. He said that the third trial was an abuse.
Held: There had been no . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.168531

Krohn v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 18 Mar 1997

Appeal by the defendant Anthony Krohn by way of case stated from a decision of the Newcastle upon Tyne Crown Court on 28th February 1996 upholding his conviction at the Newcastle upon Tyne Magistrates’ Court on 30th December 1995 on a charge of assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty. The central question which arises for decision on this appeal is whether the failure by a senior police officer to make a record in writing of the grounds for searching the defendant’s flat and the nature of the evidence that was sought rendered unlawful the subsequent entry by police officers into his flat.

Citations:

[1997] EWHC Admin 286

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime, Police

Updated: 28 October 2022; Ref: scu.648564

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 another to commit an express breach of the law which he would not otherwise have committed and then proceeds or informs against him in respect of such offence’.
An application for leave to appeal is not itself an appeal under section 5(1) of the 1968 Act.

Citations:

[1974] 60 Cr App R 59, [1975] Crim LR 154

Statutes:

Criminal Appeal Act 1968 5(1)

Jurisdiction:

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, Criminal Practice

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.250464

Regina v McEvilly and Lee: CACD 1973

Entrapment is not a defence to a criminal charge.

Citations:

[1974] Crim LR 239, (1973) 60 Cr App R 150

Jurisdiction:

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: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.250463

Houghton v Smith: CACD 1973

The defendant appealed his conviction for attempting to handle stolen goods, saying that that the time of his act, the goods were no longer stolen, having been taken into lawful custody by the police.
Held: The appeal failed. Lord Widgery CJ discussed the legal implications of inchoate, but uncompleted, sequences of actions in cases which might or might not amount to criminal attempts, identifying two classes of case: ‘The type of case where the accused has embarked on a course of conduct which, if completed, will result in an offence but for some reason breaks off that course of conduct and never completes the action required to amount to the offence.’ This would include ‘pickpocket who puts his hand in a man’s pocket only to find it empty; the burglar who is disturbed by the police when he is in the process of trying to break open the window; the safebreaker who finds when he gets to the safe, it is too difficulty for him and he cannot open it.
In general a charge of attempt can properly be laid in that type of case’.
It was otherwise, he thought, in the second class of case which he described as follows: ‘Where the accused has meticulously and in detail followed every step of his intended course believing throughout that he was committing a criminal offence and when in the end it is found he has not committed a criminal offence because in law that which he planned and carried out does not amount to a criminal offence at all.’ In such a case a criminal attempt had not been committed.

Judges:

Lord Widgery CJ

Citations:

[1973] 2 WLR 944

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Haughton v Smith, On Appeal From Regina v Smith (Roger) HL 21-Nov-1973
The defendant appealed against his conviction for attempting to handle stolen goods. They were to be delivered to him in a van, but the meat was intercepted and recovered by the police. The defendant argued that he should not be convicted of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.254527

A Local Authority v PD and others: FD 10 Aug 2005

Application by a number of newspapers in order to clarify the terms and effect of an injunction granted in the course of care proceedings under The Children Act 1989 relating to a six-year old child

Judges:

Sir Mark Potter, P

Citations:

[2005] EWHC 1832 (Fam), 1832.html
Cite as: [2005] EWHC 1832 (Fam),

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – LM, Re (Reporting Restrictions; Coroner’s Inquest) FD 1-Aug-2007
A child had died. In earlier civil proceedings, the court had laid responsibility with the mother. Restrictions had been placed on the information which would effectively prevent the coroner conducting his inquest. The coroner sought a lifting of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Media, Crime, Children

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.235552

Rose vDirector of Public Prosecutions: Admn 16 Mar 2006

The defendant appealed his conviction for outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner contrary to common law. He had been in the foyer of a bank at night with a girl who performed oral sex. The action could have been seen, but was only recorded and seen the following morning by the manager of bank reviewing the tape.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The common law offence of outraging public decency required at least two witnesses to the act. Though others might have seen the act there was no evidence of this.

Judges:

Stanley Burnton J

Citations:

Times 12-Apr-2006, [2006] EWHC 852 (Admin), [2006] 1 WLR 2626

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Rex v Watson 1847
The defendant having indecently exposed himself in Paddington Churchyard to a 12 year old girl was charged with committing a public nuisance.
Held: Only one person had seen him. The charge could not be sustained unless there had been at least . .
Cited – Regina v Rimmington; Regina v Goldstein HL 21-Jul-2005
Common Law – Public Nuisance – Extent
The House considered the elements of the common law offence of public nuisance. One defendant faced accusations of having sent racially offensive materials to individuals. The second was accused of sending an envelope including salt to a friend as a . .
Cited – Regina v Walker CACD 14-Apr-1995
The offence of ‘Outraging public decency’ involves a need for at least two witnesses and a breach of decency. There must be some possibility of an impact on the public. . .
Cited – Rex v Webb 1848
(Exchequer Chamber) The defendant was accused of having exposed himself to a barmaid in the bar of a public house when there was no one else in sight. The charge was for outraging public decency contrary to common law. She ran off and informed her . .
Cited – Regina v Farrell 1862
An alleged indecent exposure to only one person did not contravene the common law. . .
Cited – Regina v Shorrock CACD 1993
The defendants used land for an unauthorised ‘acid party’ which caused substantial inconvenience and disruption to neighbours. The defendant denied that he had had the requisite knowledge to be criminally liable.
Held: This was capable of . .
Cited – Regina v Mayling 1963
To establish the offence of outraging public decency, it is not necessary to prove that any particular person was outraged. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Hamilton, Regina v CACD 16-Aug-2007
The defendant appealed his conviction for outraging public decency. He had surreptitously filmed up the skirts of women in a supermarket. The offence was only discovered after the films were found on a search of his home for other material. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.241289

Express Ltd v The Environment Agency: QBD 15 Jul 2004

The dairy appealed its conviction for allowing cream to enter a brook from the land of its customer.
Held: Polluting matter did not need to be itself noxious or poisonous, it was enough that it stained or tinted the water as did cream. Though the land did not belong to the defendant, it was enough that the defendant’s customer permitted an escape as a result of a failure by the defendant. The landowner was under an obligation to carry out a risk assessment and respond to it.

Judges:

Lord Justice Kennedy Mr Justice Treacy

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 1710 (Admin), Times 10-Aug-2004

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Water Resources Act 1991 85(1) 85(6) 271

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Welsh Water Authority v Williams Motors (Cwmdu) Ltd QBD 1-Dec-1988
Oil was supplied to Williams Motors by Autobrec Oils and there was spillage from an offset fuel pipe out of sight of the delivery driver. Some of the spilt oil got into the storm drainage, and thus into a canal. Williams Motors were charged under . .
Cited – Empress Car Company (Abertillery) Ltd v National Rivers Authority HL 22-Jan-1998
A diesel tank was in a yard which drained into a river. It was surrounded by a bund to contain spillage, but that protection was over ridden by an extension pipe from the tank to a drum outside the bund. Someone opened a tap on that pipe so that . .
Cited – Regina v Dovermoss Ltd CACD 8-Feb-1995
Contamination below the maximum set limits can still be pollution. A dry watercourse is controlled water, as are streams and drains. Pollution is an ordinary English word defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘to make physically impure, foul . .
Cited – Neath Rural District Council v Williams QBD 1951
A watercourse became silted by natural causes and the local authority served an abatement notice on the landowner, who failed to respond, and when prosecuted relied on a proviso which excluded from liability ‘any person other than the person by . .
Cited – Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass HL 31-Mar-1971
Identification of Company’s Directing Mind
In a prosecution under the 1968 Act, the court discussed how to identify the directing mind and will of a company, and whether employees remained liable when proper instructions had been given to those in charge of a local store.
Held: ‘In the . .
Cited – Alphacell Ltd v Woodward HL 3-May-1972
The defendant operated a paper manufacturing plant which involved maintaining tanks of polluting liquid near the river, so that pollution would occur if they overflowed. There were pumps which ought normally to have drawn off the liquid and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Environment

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.198840

Van Dongen and Another, Regina v: CACD 5 Jul 2005

The defendant brothers appealed convictions for murder. They had pleaded self defence. The injuries on the deceased suggested a substantial number of wounds were inflicted when he was in a curled up defensive post.
Held: The provocation direction was requested, and there was evbidence to support it as a possibility. It could have been given with care so as to avoid undermining other defences. Its absence was a misdirection. The court consideerd under what circumstances it might be correct to apply the proviso to allow a conviction to stand and ‘Justice in a criminal trial rightly and necessarily concentrates on justice for the appellant. But the court must not overlook the matter of justice for those concerned with the victim also, nor the requirements of a proportionate criminal appellate system, which include that those who are surely and fairly shown to be guilty of murder, and have been so found by a jury, should not escape that consequence on gossamer grounds. In our judgment, the unavoidable facts of this case and the necessary logic of the jury’s verdict rule out any possibility of a miscarriage of justice.’ The appeal failed.

Judges:

May LJ

Citations:

[2005] EWCA Crim 1728

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Acott CACD 5-Apr-1996
To decide whether a judge’s duty under section 3 was triggered it was essential to bear in mind that the word ‘provocation’ was used in an active and not a passive sense. Provocation was that which provoked; it was not the state of being in a temper . .
Cited – Regina v Miao CACD 17-Nov-2003
The defendant appealed his conviction for murder. His main defence had been that there had been no intention to kill, but the judge had refused to leave to the jury the possibility of provocation.
Held: There was evidence of potentially . .
Cited – Regina v Acott HL 12-Mar-1997
Provocation is not an issue in murder until evidence is given which takes the issues beyond a mere refuted cross examination. If there was ‘insufficient material for a jury to find that it is a reasonable possibility that there was specific . .
Cited – Regina v Jones CACD 22-Oct-1999
Roch LJ said: ‘Trial judges are inevitably aware that the giving of a provocation direction must tend to undermine lines of defence such as those which were advanced on behalf of the appellant in this case. It is unlikely that a person who has lost . .
Cited – Regina v Whitfield CACD 1976
The court declined to apply the proviso to allow conviction of the defendant where the judge had given a msidirection, saying that to do so would be to determine the issue otherwise than by verdict of the jury. . .
Cited – Regina v Burgess and McLean CACD 1995
Section 3 of the 1957 Act spells out the function of the judge and jury at the trial. The section is dealing with the trial, not the appeal. . .
Cited – Confessor Valdez Franco v The Queen PC 14-Aug-2001
(Antigua and Barbuda) The appellant had been convicted of murder, with his defence of self-defence rejected by the jury. His defence was self-defence. No defence of provocation was advanced at trial and the trial judge gave no direction to the jury . .
Cited – Regina v Cox CACD 12-Apr-1995
The proviso may be applied by the Court of Appeal despite the Judge’s failure to leave the issue of provocation with the jury. As a matter of law, the court in an appropriate case might apply the proviso to section 2(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act . .
Cited – Bullard v The Queen PC 1957
The question was whether there was evidence on which the jury could have found a verdict of manslaughter on grounds of provocation rather than the verdict of murder which had been returned.
Held: There is naturally a tendency for an appellate . .
Cited – Regina v Rossiter CACD 1992
The defendant was charged with a murder. The very manner of the killing suggested that he was at the time of the killing in a state of uncontrolled frenzy. However, Russell LJ said: ‘We take the law to be that wherever there is material which is . .
Cited – Regina v Smith (Morgan James) HL 27-Jul-2000
The defendant had sought to rely upon the defence of provocation. He had suffered serious clinical depression.
Held: When directing a jury on the law of provocation, it was no longer appropriate to direct the jury to disregard any particular . .
Cited – Her Majestys Attorney General for Jersey v Holley PC 15-Jun-2005
(Jersey) The defendant appealed his conviction for murder, claiming a misdirection on the law of provocation. A chronic alcoholic, he had admitted killing his girlfriend with an axe. Nine law lords convened to seek to reconcile conflicting decisions . .
Cited – Regina v Dhillon CACD 27-Nov-1996
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder saying that the defence of provocation had not been left to the jury. The trial judge had thought that there should be a provocation direction, but neither prosecuting nor defence counsel . .

Cited by:

Cited – James, Regina v; Regina v Karimi CACD 25-Jan-2006
The defendants appealed their convictions for murder, saying that the court had not properly guided the jury on provocation. The court was faced with apparently conflicting decision of the House of Lords (Smith) and the Privy Council (Holley).
Cited – Serrano, Regina v CACD 1-Dec-2006
The defendant had been convicted of murder in 1972. He now appealed on a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission questioning the failure of the judge to direct on provocation. He had killed a girl after they tried but failed to have . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.228483

Regina v Whitfield: CACD 1976

The court declined to apply the proviso to allow conviction of the defendant where the judge had given a msidirection, saying that to do so would be to determine the issue otherwise than by verdict of the jury.

Judges:

Lord Widgery CJ

Citations:

(1976) 63 Crim App R 39

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Considered – Regina v Burgess and McLean CACD 1995
Section 3 of the 1957 Act spells out the function of the judge and jury at the trial. The section is dealing with the trial, not the appeal. . .
Cited – Van Dongen and Another, Regina v CACD 5-Jul-2005
The defendant brothers appealed convictions for murder. They had pleaded self defence. The injuries on the deceased suggested a substantial number of wounds were inflicted when he was in a curled up defensive post.
Held: The provocation . .
Considered – Regina v Cox CACD 12-Apr-1995
The proviso may be applied by the Court of Appeal despite the Judge’s failure to leave the issue of provocation with the jury. As a matter of law, the court in an appropriate case might apply the proviso to section 2(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.228494

Regina (Hoverspeed Limited and others) v Commissioners of Customs and Excise: CA 10 Dec 2002

Passengers leaving a ferry had been stopped by Customs. The vehicle was searched and a quantity of alcohol and tobacco found, which they believed not to be for personal consumption. The car and imports had been forfeited. The court had said that the methods used to select vehicles to be searched were unlawful.
Held: It was appropriate for Customs to use statistical profiles to select vehicles to be stopped. Such methods were capable of being reasonable grounds for suspicion. A blanket approach was unjustified, but selecting particular individuals for investigation where they fitted certain identified patterns could be justified. A seizure of the offending articles following an unjustified stop need not be unlawful, and someone aggrieved by a seizure should take advantage of the framework of remedies available to him. Goods acquired ‘for his own use’ was not restricted to the personal individual use by that individual, but could include, for example, someone stocking up for a party, or acquiring them as gifts for a friend or relative. Use outside the range of such personal use was deemed to be commercial use.

Judges:

The Master of The Rolls, Lord Justice Latham, Lord Justice Mance

Citations:

Times 16-Dec-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 1804, [2003] 2 All ER 553, [2003] QB 1041, [2003] STC 1273, [2003] 2 WLR 950

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 163 163A

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Hoverspeed Limited, Alan Charles Andrews, Pauline Andrews, Lynne Andrews, George Wilkinson v Commissioners of Customs and Excise QBD 31-Jul-2002
The applicants operated ferries between Britain and France. Their customers were being stopped by Customs and Excise, and they sought to challenge the validity of the Order and non specific ways of selecting vehicles to be stopped.
Held: The . .
Cited – Entick v Carrington KBD 1765
The Property of Every Man is Sacred
The King’s Messengers entered the plaintiff’s house and seized his papers under a warrant issued by the Secretary of State, a government minister.
Held: The common law does not recognise interests of state as a justification for allowing what . .

Cited by:

Cited – Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Newbury Admn 3-Mar-2003
The commissioner appealed a finding that a car and other goods they had forfeited should be returned. The owner said that matters had been imported for personal use under the directive.
Held: The directive had direct effect and precedence over . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Customs and Excise, Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.178454

Regina v Porter: CACD 4 Dec 2001

The defendant appealed conviction and sentence for several counts of rape. The defendant had wanted his own scientific evidence, but the judge refused to delay the trial to allow it to be obtained. A complaint was also made as to the judge’s direction on the treatment of the evidence of the co-accused. The judge’s decision in both complaints was at fault, but the prosecution evidence remained compelling. Appeal against conviction refused. On sentence, the offences were grave and the effect upon the victim immeasurable. Nevertheless he was young, limited, vulnerable, and had never before received a custodial sentence. Twelve years reduced to ten.

Judges:

Lord Justice Potter Mrs Justice Rafferty

Citations:

[2001] EWCA Crim 2699

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.167053

Regina v Walker: CACD 14 Apr 1995

The offence of ‘Outraging public decency’ involves a need for at least two witnesses and a breach of decency. There must be some possibility of an impact on the public.

Citations:

Ind Summary 08-May-1995, Gazette 03-May-1995, Times 14-Apr-1995, [1995] 1 Cr App rep 111

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Rose vDirector of Public Prosecutions Admn 16-Mar-2006
The defendant appealed his conviction for outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner contrary to common law. He had been in the foyer of a bank at night with a girl who performed oral sex. The action could have been seen, but was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.88237

Regina v Parole Board, ex Parte Watson: CA 11 Mar 1996

The test as to whether there was still a need to protect the public safety from the defendant was just as appropriate when considering the revocation of a licence, as it was when the need for continued detention was being reviewed before the grant of the licence: ‘In exercising its practical judgment the Board is . . balancing the hardship and injustice of continuing to imprison a man who is unlikely to cause serious injury to the public against the need to protect the public against a man who is not unlikely to cause such injury. In other than a clear case this is bound to be a difficult and very anxious judgment. But in the final balance the Board is bound to give preponderant weight to the need to protect innocent members of the public against any significant risk of serious injury.’ The Parole Board, in exercising this very important function, is an independent and impartial tribunal for purposes of article 6(1) of the European Convention. It is the primary decision-maker, and is not entitled to defer to the opinion of the Secretary of State or a probation officer.

Judges:

Sir Thomas Bingham MR

Citations:

Times 11-Mar-1996, [1996] EWCA Crim 44, [1996] 1 WLR 906

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1991 39

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Regina v Parole Board, Ex Parte Watson QBD 22-Nov-1995
The test for whether or not to recall a lifer who was free on licence is the same test as was used for his release, namely whether his detention was required for the protection of the public. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Roberts v Parole Board CA 28-Jul-2004
The discretionary life-prisoner faced a parole board. The Secretary of State wished to present evidence, but wanted the witness to be protected. The Parole Board appointed special counsel to hear the evidence on behalf of the prisoner on terms that . .
Cited – Regina v Parole Board ex parte Smith, Regina v Parole Board ex parte West (Conjoined Appeals) HL 27-Jan-2005
Each defendant challenged the way he had been treated on revocation of his parole licence, saying he should have been given the opportunity to make oral representations.
Held: The prisoners’ appeals were allowed.
Lord Bingham stated: . .
Cited – McClean, Re HL 7-Jul-2005
The appellant was serving a life sentence for terrorist offences. He complained that he should have been released under the 1998 Act. It was said he would be a danger to the public if released. On pre-release home leave he was involved in a . .
Cited – Roberts v Parole Board HL 7-Jul-2005
Balancing Rights of Prisoner and Society
The appellant had been convicted of the murder of three police officers in 1966. His tariff of thirty years had now long expired. He complained that material put before the Parole Board reviewing has case had not been disclosed to him.
Held: . .
Cited – Regina (Gulliver) v Parole Board CA 4-Jul-2007
The claimant had been released on licence, and recalled. He complained that the parole board had, in considering his re-release taken into account circumstances beyond those which had directly caused his recall.
Held: The prisoner’s appeal . .
Cited – Brooke and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v The Parole Board and Another CA 1-Feb-2008
The claimant prisoner complained that the Parole Board was insufficiently independent of government to provide a fair hearing. The court at first instance had found that the relationship between the Parole Board and the sponsoring Department put the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Sentencing, Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.88585

Regina v Dovermoss Ltd: CACD 8 Feb 1995

Contamination below the maximum set limits can still be pollution. A dry watercourse is controlled water, as are streams and drains. Pollution is an ordinary English word defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘to make physically impure, foul or filthy, to dirty, stain, taint or re-foul’. It is therefore not necessary to show that water is harmed to show that it is polluted.

Citations:

Gazette 15-Mar-1995, Times 08-Feb-1995, [1995] Env L R 258

Statutes:

Water Resources Act 1991 85(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Express Ltd v The Environment Agency QBD 15-Jul-2004
The dairy appealed its conviction for allowing cream to enter a brook from the land of its customer.
Held: Polluting matter did not need to be itself noxious or poisonous, it was enough that it stained or tinted the water as did cream. Though . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Environment, Utilities, Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.86575

Regina v Cox: CACD 12 Apr 1995

The proviso may be applied by the Court of Appeal despite the Judge’s failure to leave the issue of provocation with the jury. As a matter of law, the court in an appropriate case might apply the proviso to section 2(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, where there had been a misdirection by a failure of the judge to leave the issue of provocation to the jury.

Citations:

Ind Summary 01-May-1995, Gazette 12-Apr-1995, [1995] 2 Cr App R 513

Statutes:

Criminal Appeals Act 1968 2(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Considered – Regina v Whitfield CACD 1976
The court declined to apply the proviso to allow conviction of the defendant where the judge had given a msidirection, saying that to do so would be to determine the issue otherwise than by verdict of the jury. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Van Dongen and Another, Regina v CACD 5-Jul-2005
The defendant brothers appealed convictions for murder. They had pleaded self defence. The injuries on the deceased suggested a substantial number of wounds were inflicted when he was in a curled up defensive post.
Held: The provocation . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.86460

Usman, Regina v: CACD 5 Mar 2021

The defendant was giving evidence and that evidence had reached the point where following his evidence in-chief, he was being cross-examined by counsel for a co-defendant prior to being cross-examined again by counsel for the prosecution. There was a break in the proceedings and, as the jury were on their way out of court, one of them sang words of the Fleetwood Mac song ‘Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies’. The judge had to deal with this outburst and decide what to do; he decided to discharge the individual juror, explaining to that juror that he had to consider how the outburst would have looked to an independent and impartial observer. He then informed the remaining jurors of this decision and enquired as to whether each of them considered that they could continue to try the case properly and fairly. Each of them did, so the trial continued with 11 jurors and in due course the defendant was convicted.
On his behalf Mr Cherrett submits that the judge should have discharged the whole jury not merely the one juror, and that the prejudice caused to the defendant by this outburst at a critical point in the case was simply irremediable.
Held: The course taken by the judge was clearly correct. It was quite sufficient to discharge the single juror who had by singing this song in court expressed prejudice and done so indeed in a way which may have been considered a contempt of court. But it was quite unnecessary and inappropriate for the judge to have discharged the jury as a whole and required the case to start again . . the fact that the offending juror had been discharged must have acted as a salutary reminder to the jury of the need not to exhibit prejudicial conduct.

Citations:

[2021] EWCA Crim 360

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Kellard, Dwyer, Wright CACD 5-Aug-1994
Appeal on a multiplicity of issues from convictions recorded in the course of a trial which lasted about a year.
Held: In large fraud trials, the prosecution should consider severance of the indictment to shorten the length of individual . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.660774

Regina v Spriggs: CCA 1958

The court considered the then conventional formulations employed in Scotland in relation to the level of impairment, which included (but were not confined to) references to the borderline of insanity

Citations:

[1958] 1 QB 270

Statutes:

Homicide Act 1957

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Golds, Regina v SC 30-Nov-2016
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder, saying that he should have been only convicted of manslaughter, applying the new test for diminished responsibility as provided under the 1957 Act as amended, and particularly whether the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.631424

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 that the interception had taken place on the public side of the system, and therefore admission of other evidence would be prejudicial and should not be admitted. Questions were certified: 1) Does section 17 (1) of 2000 Act (RIPA’) operate to prevent evidence being adduced etc to ascertain whether a telecommunications system is a public or a private telecommunications system? 2) Is the answer different if the evidence relates to events which took place before RIPA? And 3) Where an interception has taken place on a private telecommunications system, is it permissible to establish that the interception has been carried out by the person with control of the system a) before RIPA; and b) after RIPA?
Held: Section 17 is wider than the older section under the 1985 Act. Evidence that the system is public does not in any way disclose the contents of the communications and so is not prohibited. The ruling that section 17 prevented the defence adducing evidence, asking questions or making assertions designed to show that the intercepts were via the public system was wrong. IF th esystem was public it was inadmissible. If private it was not. Answers 1) No, 2) No 3)(a) yes 3)(b) Yes. The questions were referred on to the House of Lords.

Judges:

Lord Justice Clarke, Mr Justice Morison And Dame Heather Steel Dbe

Citations:

[2003] EWCA Crim 1632, Times 16-Jun-2003, Gazette 10-Jul-2003, [2003] 1 WLR 2902

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 17(1), Interception of Communications Act 1985

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Malone v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis (No 2) ChD 28-Feb-1979
The court considered the lawfulness of telephone tapping. The issue arose following a trial in which the prosecution had admitted the interception of the plaintiff’s telephone conversations under a warrant issued by the Secretary of State. The . .
Cited – Malone v The United Kingdom ECHR 2-Aug-1984
COURT (PLENARY) The complainant asserted that his telephone conversation had been tapped on the authority of a warrant signed by the Secretary of State, but that there was no system to supervise such warrants, and that it was not therefore in . .
Cited – Regina v Preston, Preston, Clarke Etc HL 5-Nov-1993
Telephone tapping evidence consisting of tapping records are to be destroyed after their use for the purpose obtained, but a prosecution was not within that purpose. The underlying purpose of the 1985 Act is to protect information as to the . .
Cited – Regina v Ahmed and Others CACD 29-Mar-1994
The tapping of telephone calls within a police station switchboard was outside the scope of the Act, since the calls were not intercepted whilst the communications were being carried on a public telecommunications system. . .
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 . .
Cited – Regina v P and others HL 19-Dec-2000
Where communications had been intercepted in a foreign country, and the manner of such interceptions had been lawful in that country, the evidence produced was admissible in evidence in a trial in England. An admission of such evidence was not an . .
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 – Regina v Effik; Regina v Mitchell HL 22-Jul-1994
The material obtained by intercepting signals passing between a base unit and the handset of a cordless telephone was admissible because no communication was being made by means of a public system when the calls were intercepted by the police. A . .
Cited – Morgans v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 18-Feb-2000
Without a warrant, the police had arranged for a call logger to retain details of the calls made, including the number called, time and duration. The dialing itself was a communication, which established a connection, through which further . .
Cited – Regina v Allan, Bunting and Boodhoo CACD 6-Apr-2001
The authorities intercepted telephone conversations on card phones used by prisoners with people outside the prison. Was the intercepted material admissible? Was it a ‘communication in the course of its transmission . . by means of a public . .
Appealed to – Attorney General’s Reference (No 5 of 2002) HL 14-Oct-2004
The Attorney General sought the correct interpretation of section 17 where a court was asked as to whether evidence obtained from a telephone tapping had been taken from a public or private network. A chief constable suspected that the defendants, . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Attorney General’s Reference (No 5 of 2002) HL 14-Oct-2004
The Attorney General sought the correct interpretation of section 17 where a court was asked as to whether evidence obtained from a telephone tapping had been taken from a public or private network. A chief constable suspected that the defendants, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.183402

Regina v Leather: CA 24 Mar 1993

The child abduction offence may be complete without physical removal. ‘removal from lawful control’ under the Act did not import a necessary spatial element. The issue is the removal of control.

Citations:

Gazette 24-Mar-1993, (1993) 98 Cr App R 179, Times 21-Jan-1993

Statutes:

Child Abduction Act 1984 2(1)(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Foster and Another v Director of Public Prosecutions CACD 1-Dec-2004
The child, aged 15, was living with her foster parents. The defendants took her to their address and plied her with drink. The foster parents contacted her, and she said she was returning home. When she did not return the foster parents reported her . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.88528

Regina v Secretary of State Home Department, ex parte Gallagher: CACD 16 Feb 1994

The Home Secretary need not give reasons for exclusion orders made for national security purposes.

Citations:

Ind Summary 28-Feb-1994, Times 16-Feb-1994

Statutes:

Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989 4, Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87986

Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Marchon: CA 23 Feb 1993

It was permissible for the Home Secretary to order the deportation of a convicted drug trafficker for the public good, even though he was an EC national, and though there was nothing to suggest any propensity to commit any further offences. It was not necessary to show that the offence was so notorious as to require special treatment. The offence here was sufficiently serious to justify such an action.

Citations:

Times 23-Feb-1993, [1993] Imm AR 384

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – B v Secretary of State for Home Department CA 18-May-2000
The claimant had come to England as a child from Italy. As an adult, he was convicted of a sexual assault against his daughter, and after release from his prison sentence of five years, he now appealed against a deportation order, saying that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Immigration, European

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.87877

Regina v Cole: CACD 21 Feb 1994

Pending clarification, the defence of duress is not to be extended. As to necessity as a defence, the peril relied on in this case to support the plea of necessity lacked imminence and the degree of directness and immediacy required of the link between the suggested peril and the offence charged.

Judges:

Simon Brown LJ

Citations:

Ind Summary 21-Feb-1994, [1994] Crim LR 582 (Comment)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Hasan, Regina v HL 17-Mar-2005
The House was asked two questions: the meaning of ‘confession’ for the purposes of section 76(1) of the 1984 Act, and as to the defence of duress. The defendant had been involved in burglary, being told his family would be harmed if he refused. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.86405

Blackburn and Others v Bowering and Another: CA 5 Nov 1993

It was self defence if the defendant honestly believes the victim was not an officer of court. The issue was the genuineness of the belief, not its reasonableness.

Judges:

Sir Thomas Bingham MR

Citations:

Times 05-Nov-1993, [1994] 1 WLR 1324

Statutes:

County Court Act 1984 14(1)(b)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Followed – Regina v Williams CACD 1986
The defendant was charged with threatening to kill.
Held: Evidence of previous threatening and violent conduct of Williams towards the victim was rightly admitted to establish an intention on the part of the defendant that the victim should . .

Cited by:

Cited – B (A Minor) v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 23-Feb-2000
Prosecution to prove absence of genuine belief
To convict a defendant under the 1960 Act, the prosecution had the burden of proving the absence of a genuine belief in the defendant’s mind that the victim was 14 or over. The Act itself said nothing about any mental element, so the assumption must . .
Cited – Ashley and Another v Sussex Police CA 27-Jul-2006
The deceased was shot by police officers raiding his flat in 1998. The claimants sought damages for his estate. They had succeeded in claiming damages for false imprisonment, but now appealed dismissal of their claim for damages for assault and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Contempt of Court

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.78435

Beere and Another, Regina v: CACD 25 Mar 2021

Appeals from historic conviction (2011) of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on importation of a controlled drug, cocaine, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal law Act 1977.

Judges:

Sir Julian Flaux Chancellor of the High Court

Citations:

[2021] EWCA Crim 432

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.660766

McKerry v Teesdale and Wear Valley Justices: CACD 7 Feb 2000

Appeal from order dispensing with reporting restrictions for 16 year old before Youth Court. Appellant constituted a serious danger to the public and had shown a complete disregard for the law.
Held: ‘ the justices were very carefully and conscientiously exercising the power conferred by the statute. It was for them to make a judgment and exercise their discretion and they did so. They did not conclude that the public interest would be served by publishing the appellant’s address or his photograph or details of his school. They did, however, consider that there was a public interest to be served by permitting publication of his name. This was in my judgment a balanced and judicious decision which cannot be stigmatised as perverse or unreasonable simply because the justices declined to decide wholly one way or wholly the other.’

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill LCJ

Citations:

[2000] EWCA Crim 3553, (2000) 164 JP 355, [2001] EMLR 5, [2000] Crim LR 594

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Children and Young Persons Act 1933 49(4A)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime, Magistrates, Media

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.655468

Rai, Regina v: CACD 29 Oct 1999

The deception required as an element of the offence of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, could be constituted by acquiescence, where there could properly be said to be a continuing representation, under which the person deceived had acted. The defendant had obtained a grant for his mother’s house whilst she was alive to assist her living there, but the grant would start only after she died. He had said nothing to suggest the grant might no longer be appropriate.

Citations:

Gazette 17-Nov-1999, Times 10-Nov-1999, [1999] EWCA Crim 2250, [2000] 1 Cr App Rep 242, [2000] Crim LR 192, 164 JP 121

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Theft Act 1968, Theft Act 1978 1(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 26 October 2022; Ref: scu.464839

Regina v O’Connell: CACD 1992

The appellant and his wife appliied for loans to buy residential properties to be let to obtain a rental income covering most of the mortgage payments. The properties were later sold to take advantages of increases in value. A sum of andpound;1.5 million was made by the two defendants. The building societies would not make such advances for commercial purposes or for trading purposes, so the appellant gave false particulars on the applications. On discovery, they were charged with obtaining property, the building societies’ cheques, by deception. The appellant gave evidence that he did not regard his actions as dishonest because the building societies’ interests were fully protected and he had had no intention of depriving them permanently of the money lent. The prosecution objected to the admissibility of that evidence. The trial judge accepted that submission and ruled accordingly. He changed his plea to guilty. His complaint about the conviction was that his evidence had been relevant to the issue of dishonesty and the judge’s ruling to exclude it was therefore wrong.
Held: Kennedy J drew attention to Ghosh, and Feely to say that where the issue of dishonesty is raised, it must be left to the jury. He continued: ‘it is by no means in every case involving dishonesty that a Ghosh direction is necessary. But if dishonesty is the issue, even though deception has been proved, a judge should be slow to seek to constrain a defendant as to how he puts his case. The attempt to show that the deception was a white lie may sound far fetched. But unless the evidence is plainly irrelevant to the issue of dishonesty, it should not be excluded.’ and, on the facts of that case: ‘No one suggests that an intention to repay or to perform contractual obligations can of itself amount to a defence. But it may be some evidence of dishonesty: just as a demonstrated intention not to perform those obligations would be some evidence of dishonesty.’

Judges:

Kennedy J

Citations:

(1992) 94 Cr App R 33

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Feely CACD 1973
In relation to a charge of theft where the issue of dishonesty is raised, the issue must be left to the jury. Dishonesty is not a matter of law, but a jury question of fact and standards. Except to the limited extent that section 2 of the Theft Act . .
Cited – Regina v Ghosh CACD 5-Apr-1982
The defendant surgeon was said to have made false claims for payment for operations, and was charged under the 1968 Act. He claimed to have been entitled to the sums claimed, and denied that he had been dishonest. The court considered the meaning of . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Clarke CACD 2-Apr-1996
Several people had lost large sums of mony by a fraud. The defendant had approached them offering his services as a private investigator to seek to recover their money. He pleaded guilty to one allegation of deception after an indication from the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.446001

Regina v Bingham: CACD 1991

B was convicted of shoplifting. He was diabetic and argued that at the time he was suffering hypoglycaemia and should have been allowed the defence of automatism.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The judge should have properly explored the distinction between hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. Hypoglyceamia was not a condition of the disease but of failures in its management, and accordingly it could lead to a lack of mens rea and the associated defence.

Citations:

[1991] Crim LR 433

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Gregory v Portsmouth City Council HL 10-Feb-2000
Disciplinary proceedings had been taken by the local authority against Mr Gregory, a council member, after allegations had been made that he had failed to declare conflicts of interest, and that he had used confidential information to secure a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.428018

Regina v Modupe: CACD 1991

The appellant obtained loans enabling him to buy cars by giving false information when entering into hire purchase agreements. The relevant agreement did not contain all the prescribed information and was improperly executed so that by virtue of section 65 it was only enforceable on the order of the court. The appellant had been convicted of evading an existing liability by deception with intent to make permanent default contrary to section 2(1) (b) of the Theft Act 1978. He appealed against conviction, contending that since the agreement was enforceable only on the order of the court, there was no existing liability, as there was no liability until such an order was made.
Held: The fact that under section 65(1) the agreement was only enforceable on an order of the court did not mean that there was no existing liability on the part of the debtor ‘There was an existing liability, albeit only enforceable by an order of the court. It is quite plain from s 65 that the object of that provision is that if the agreement is not properly completed, then one of the methods of the disappointed contractor enforcing his liability is removed from him. He cannot help himself. In other words he cannot retake the vehicle if it is a hire-purchase type of agreement. But the argument that no legal liability exists in the light of those matters is one which is not tenable.’

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ and Henry and Hidden JJ

Citations:

[1991] CCLR 29

Statutes:

Consumer Credit Act 1974 65, Theft Act 1968 2(1)(b)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – McGuffick v The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc ComC 6-Oct-2009
Requirements for Enforcing Consumer Loan Agreement
The claimant challenged the validity of a loan agreement with his bank as a regulated consumer credit agreement. After default, the lender failed to satisfy a request for a copy of the agreement under section 77. The bank said that though it could . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Consumer

Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.375746