Appeal from order for preparatory hearing

[2021] EWCA Crim 1237
Bailii
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 16 November 2021; Ref: scu.668587

Appeal from order made at case management hearing

[2008] EWCA Crim 1997, [2009] 1 WLR 1545
Bailii
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 15 November 2021; Ref: scu.273129

The defendants sought to appeal their convictions out of time, saying that the law had changed since the convictions.
Held: Where the court would not refer give leave to appeal out of time, the Criminal Cases Review Commission should also not refer the case.

[2007] EWCA Crim 2016, Times 05-Sep-2007, [2007] 1 WLR 3262, [2008] 1 Cr App Rep 7, [2008] Crim LR 50
Bailii
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 15 November 2021; Ref: scu.258482

The defendants appealed saying that a juror had extraneous material regarding the matters before the court had been researched by a juror.
Held: The court observed at that the inference that complaints after verdicts simply represent a protest by a juror at verdicts with which he or she disagrees are likely to be overwhelming.

Igor Judge, Baron Judge LCJ, Royce, Globe JJ
[2013] EWCA Crim 776
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Baybasin and Others, Regina v CACD 13-Dec-2013
The defendants sought leave to appeal against drugs related convictions saying that the method used for jury ballotting by the Crown Court was unlawful, the prosecutor having withdrawn his request for this, and that a juror had convicted after . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.510716

The court considered the ambit of the discretionary grant of a restraint order, where the proceeds of crime had been transferred to a company.
Held: Ouseley J said: ‘In my judgment the real question which a judge faced with an application for a restraint or receivership order is whether the order of the extent sought and now obtained is appropriate or necessary in view of the two legislative objectives out in section 31(2) and (4) of the 1994 Act. The question whether the effect of such an order is to pierce the corporate veil or whether some particular test related to that concept requires to be satisfied is not, in my judgment, the ultimate object of the inquiry which the court has to carry out. The object of the Act is to enable proceeds of crime to be ascertained, protected and realised. The first question therefore is whether there are corporate assets which should be treated as the defendant’s assets and the second question is whether, if that is the case, a restraint and receivership order of the extent sought is necessary. The position, in my judgment, is the same where there is an intermingling of the assets of a criminal, who is seeking to evade the effect of the confiscation order, with the assets of innocent business partners in a company. If it is established that some or all of the assets of the company are to be treated as assets of the defendant, the question of how their intermingling with the assets of someone who is innocent of wrongdoing is to be dealt with, is a matter for resolution by deciding whether an order should be made and if so on what terms, rather than a matter which has to be resolved by simply asking whether the corporate veil should be pierced.’

Ouseley J
[2006] EWHC Admin 254
Drug Trafficking Act 1994
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Larkfield Ltd and Others v Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office and Others CA 12-May-2010
The defendant in criminal proceedings (M) had been found to be beneficial owner of property. The company, its registered proprietor appealed against an order declaring the property to be a realisable asset of M. The respondent had said the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.415922

The defendant in criminal proceedings (M) had been found to be beneficial owner of property. The company, its registered proprietor appealed against an order declaring the property to be a realisable asset of M. The respondent had said the registration was a scheme to hide its true ownership by M. There had been evidence of M’s involvement in the purchase of his intention to purchase it through an offshore vehicle, and of his payment of utility bills.
Held: The judge’s conclusion was unsustainable from the evidence available to him. There was insufficient evidence that the loan transaction financing the purchases was a sham.

Etherton LJ
[2010] EWCA Civ 521, [2010] STI 1591, [2010] 3 All ER 1173, [2010] Lloyd’s Rep FC 484, [2010] WTLR 1315, [2010] STC 1506
Bailii
Criminal Justice Act 1988 74(1) 71
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – In Re D Admn 2006
The court considered the ambit of the discretionary grant of a restraint order, where the proceeds of crime had been transferred to a company.
Held: Ouseley J said: ‘In my judgment the real question which a judge faced with an application for . .
Cited – In re Norris, Application by Norris HL 28-Jun-2001
The applicant’s husband had been made the subject of a drugs confiscation order. Part of this was an order against the house. She had failed in asserting that the house was hers. Her appeal to a civil court had been disallowed as an abuse. It was . .
Cited – Stack v Dowden HL 25-Apr-2007
The parties had cohabited for a long time, in a home bought by Ms Dowden. After the breakdown of the relationship, Mr Stack claimed an equal interest in the second family home, which they had bought in joint names. The House was asked whether, when . .
Cited – Modjiri, Regina v CACD 22-Apr-2010
The court was asked whether, where the convicted person is one of a number of registered owners of land, each of whom has a beneficial tenancy in common in the land, and the land cannot be sold, mortgaged or leased without the consent of all the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.414900

[1841] EngR 983, (1841) Car and M 297, (1841) 174 ER 514
Commonlii
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.309161

Sir Brian Leveson P QBD, Jay J
[2018] EWHC 3573 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.632105

Power to extend time to serve notice of appeal

Proper construction of the joint effect of section 84(5) of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and the Crown Court Rules SI 1982 No 1109 as amended – whether the Crown Court has any power to extend the time for service of the notice of appeal on the other party to the appeal after the appeal notice had been sent in time to the Court office.

Lord Justice Dingemans, Griffiths J
[2020] EWHC 2838 (Admin), [2020] WLR(D) 582
Bailii, WLRD
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.655211

Applications within Asset Freezing Orders

[2021] EWHC 2393 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.668314

A defendant wanting to object to the jury selection must do so at the time.

Lord Judge CJ, Mackay, Sweeney JJ
[2012] EWCA Crim 2056, [2013] 1 Cr App R 5, [2013] Crim LR 327, [2013] 1 WLR 958, [2012] WLR(D) 228
Bailii, WLRD
Juries Act 1974 11
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 November 2021; Ref: scu.465613

The defendant appealed against his conviction for sexual and common assault. He objected as to the use of bad character evidence, and the rejection of his no case to answer submission. The evidence was primarily by identification where the descriptions were inconsistent and there had been delay.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The judge had failed, as required, properly to rehearse the weaknesses in the identification evidence: ‘There were a considerable number of points to be emphasised as regards the potential unreliability of this identification evidence, as rehearsed above, and given it was the sole evidence that incriminated the appellant it was critical that the judge directed the jury as to the main matters on which they needed to focus in this context. Even allowing for the fact that this had been a short trial, on the particular facts of this case the failure by the judge to identity the specific weaknesses in the identification evidence at any stage constituted a significant defect in the summing up such as to render the verdicts unsafe.’

Fulford LJ, Holroyde J, Lakin HHJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 420
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Turnbull and Another etc CCA 9-Jun-1976
The defendants appealed against their convictions which had been based upon evidence of visual identification.
Held: Identification evidence can be unreliable, and courts must take steps to reduce injustice. The judge should warn the jury of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.522454

The appellant sought judicial review of the magistrates’ decision to convict him of the two offences of causing racially aggravated fear or provocation of violence, contrary to section 31(1)(a) of the 1998 Act, and of causing fear or provocation of violence, contrary to section 4 of the 1986 Act. He said that to convict him of both on the same facts was irrational and disproportionate and was also the product of a fixed and inflexible policy rigidly applied and, for these reasons, the convictions were unlawful.
Held: The appeal succeeded. A court given a discretion must not fetter it, and must act according to its perception of the merits of the case before it, and: ‘This claimant stands convicted twice for a single wrong. That is unfair and disproportionate. It is not a matter of being punished twice. The double conviction is of itself unfair. It must be basic to our system of criminal justice that a person’s criminal record should reflect what he has done, no more and no less. That is fair and proportionate. To convict him twice for a single wrong offends this basic rule. These two offences were charged as alternatives but they have been treated as if they were cumulative.’

Laws LJ, Hickinbottom J
[2013] EWHC 547 (Admin)
Bailii
Crime and Disorder Act 1998 3191)(a), Public Order Act 1986 4
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Manchester Coroner, ex parte Tal 1985
The court asked whether the Divisional Court was bound by previous decisions of that court, and answered: ‘we find it difficult to imagine that a single judge exercising this (supervisory) jurisdiction (of the High Court) would ever depart from a . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutors v Gane Admn 1991
The defendant was charged with driving with excess alcohol and being in charge of a vehicle with excess alcohol. It was clear that on the facts the former charge included the latter. The magistrates found the facts proved but convicted only on the . .
Cited – Crown Prosecution Service, Regina (on the Application of) v Blaydon Youth Court Admn 6-Oct-2004
The defendant had been charged with a simple offence under the Public Order Act and also with the racially aggravated offence. The magistrates refused to hear them together.
Held: This was wrong. Keene LJ said: ‘For the prosecutor, Mr Moran . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.472487

Retrial After Acquittal – New Scientific Evidence

The court heard an application for the quashing of a verdict of not guilty and the retrial of a defendant for the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. Other defendants previously acquitted were not to be tried, but a defendant not previously tried now awaited trial. Here, it was said that new scientific evidence not previously available linking the acquitted defendant to the crime scene, but no more.
Held: D’s acquittal should be quashed, and he should be retried along with the new defendant. The court considered the test for the admission of such new evidence and the quashing of an acquittal: ‘the legislative structure does not suggest that availability of a realistic defence argument which may serve to undermine the reliability or probative value of the new evidence must, of itself, preclude an order quashing the acquittal. It must, of course, be carefully analysed, and given its proper weight. If the argument, or indeed any defence evidence, leads the court to conclude that the new evidence is not, after all, as reliable or substantial as it was thought to be, or that it no longer appears to be highly probative of guilt, then the court cannot be satisfied that the statutory test has been met. That is a fact specific decision. In the end, there are three defined elements: provided the new evidence is reliable, substantial, and appears to be highly probative, for the purposes of section 78 it is compelling: otherwise it is not.’
The second test is that any such orders should be in the interests of justice: ‘The interests of justice test requires attention to be focussed on the express statutory criteria provided in section 79, but these criteria, although wide ranging, are not exhaustive. They are partly directed to events during the original investigative and trial process, a requirement designed to avoid delay in the administration of justice as well as inefficiency and lack of direction which might result from a perception that what we shall describe as a second bite of the cherry may eventually become available to the prosecution. Thus if the new evidence relied on by the prosecution would have been revealed for use at the first trial by a competent investigative and/or prosecutorial process, then the interests of justice may, on this ground alone, lead to the application being refused. The interests of justice have also to be addressed in the context of the date when any new trial may take place, with particular emphasis on any failure of due diligence or expedition since the original trial and on the impact of any delay (whether culpable or not) on the fairness of the proposed second trial. However compelling the new evidence may be, it is elementary that any second trial should be a fair one. For this purpose the court will examine all the known facts, and consider any material drawn to its attention on behalf of the potential defendant, including any potentially prejudicial publicity attracted by the case, which may make it ‘unlikely’ that a fair trial can take place.’

Judge LCJ, Rafferty, Holroyde JJ
[2011] EWCA Crim 1256, [2011] 1 WLR 3230
Bailii, CaTJ
Criminal Justice Act 2003 78 79
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – G(G) and B(S), Regina v CACD 12-Jun-2009
An application was made for the quashing of two acquittals for murder and for a retrial.
Held: It would take only compelling new evidence of guilt to justify the quashing of an acquittal. The evidence of a witness who was ready to say whatever . .

Cited by:
See Also – Regina v Dobson and Norris CCC 4-Jan-2012
CCC (Central Criminal Court) The Offence
The murder of Stephen Lawrence on the night of 22nd April 1993 was a terrible and evil crime. Recently the Lord Chief Justice described it as a ‘murder which scarred . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.439831

The defendant came to court, and his counsel informed the court of this, but then he left. Had he surrendered to his bail? He surrendered and was taken to court. He pleaded guilty to the Bail Act offence and was sentenced, but then was allowed to change his plea. He appealed against his conviction for failure to surrender to bail.
Held: By the time the judge received the request, he was functus officio, having already sentenced the defendant. It was not open to him to re-open the plea (McNally). This had not been changed by the 2000 Act. However that did not deprive the appellate court of that power.
As to whether he had surrendered: ‘the general practice of accepting surrender by way of entry into the dock accords not only with common experience and general practice, but also with principle. However, by analogy with Guney we agree that in the Crown Court surrender may also be accomplished by the commencement of any hearing before the judge where the defendant is formally identified and whether he enters the dock or not. ‘
Surrender to the usher would not be sufficient, the usher not being within the definition in 2(2) of the 1976 Act.

Hughes VP LJ, Owen, Lang JJ
[2011] EWCA Crim 2842, [2012] 2 Cr App R 22, (2012) 176 JP 139, [2012] 1 WLR 1192
Bailii
Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 155
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v McNally CCA 1954
The appellant had indicated early in the magistrates’ court an intention to plead guilty, he could not possibly have misunderstood the nature of a straightforward charge of burglary and he had unequivocally admitted guilt when the indictment was put . .
Cited – Regina v Rumble CACD 2003
The defendant had surrendered to his bail at a Magistrates Court. There was no usher and no security staff. Following imposition of a custodial sentence, the defendant escaped through the public entrance. It was submitted on an appeal that the . .
Cited – Regina v Central Criminal Court Ex Parte Guney HL 10-May-1996
The defendant was given bail supported by sureties for his attendance. The appellant signed for andpound;1m for his attendance. There was a preparatory hearing at a new court building without cells or a dock. The defendant was present. The surety . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Richards QBD 1988
The defendant had been on bail to appear at the Magistrates’ Court. On the day he arrived in good time. A notice said: ‘All persons due to appear in court please report to the enquiry counter.’ He did so and he obeyed directions which were there . .
Cited – Regina v Reader CACD 1987
The offence of absconding whilst on bail has never constituted a contempt of court. Even so it is punishable as if it were contempt. . .
Cited – Schiavo v Anderton QBD 1986
‘Surrender to custody’ means by section 2(2) in this context ‘surrendering himself into the custody of the court . . at the time and place for the time being appointed for him to do so.’ The failure to do that is by section 6(1) an offence. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.450299

DPP – no Power to Refer For Investigation

Challenge to refusal of respondent to refer a matter to the police for investigation as to potentially criminal behaviour.
Held: Mr Redston’s challenge was not arguable. He had not actually requested such a disclosure.
The DPP is not an investigator and, as such, has no power to refer the matter to the police for investigation. Any such power or discretion would run counter to the statutory distinction between investigative responsibility and prosecutorial responsibility.

James Strachan QC (Sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court)
[2020] EWHC 2962 (Admin)
Bailii, Judiary Summary
Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 2
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.655583

The defendant had been accused of recent fabrication of evidence, having given evidence in court which varied from that given in interview on arrest. The crown had commented on his failure to call his solicitor to give evidence. The defendant said this amounted to an infringement of legal professional privilege.
Held: Wilmot was not authority for any proposition about waiver of professional privilege. The issue was not addressed in that case.
Legal professional privilege is paramount, and no question should be asked to intrude upon it, including asking whether the solicitor had been told the same version as was now being given. The defendant should not be asked to waive his protection. He may however do so voluntarily. To describe what happened between himself and his solicitor is not to waive privilege entirely: ‘The test is fairness and/or the avoidance of a misleading impression.’ Merely saying that he was advised to make no comment does not waive privilege, but seeking to explain that advice may.
In fact in this case the prosecutor had not enquired further and the appeal failed.

Hughes LJ, Rafferty, Maddison JJ
[2010] EWCA Crim 1980, [2010] WLR (D) 234, [2011] 1 Cr App R 2
Bailii
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 34
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Wilmot CACD 1989
Wilmot was charged with a series of six predatory rapes, committed by picking up women, some prostitutes, in one or other of two cars. The court considered the cross admissibility of similar fact evidence.
Held: Glidewell LJ said: ‘It has been . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v P HL 1991
The defendant faced specimen counts of rape and incest against each of his two daughters. The trial judge refused an application for separate trials in respect of the offences alleged against each daughter. The defendant was convicted.
Held: . .
Cited – Regina v Derby Magistrates Court Ex Parte B HL 19-Oct-1995
No Breach of Solicitor Client Confidence Allowed
B was charged with the murder of a young girl. He made a confession to the police, but later changed his story, saying his stepfather had killed the girl. He was acquitted. The stepfather was then charged with the murder. At his committal for trial, . .
Cited – Regina v Condron, Condron CACD 17-Oct-1996
The defendants were charged with the supply of heroin. They had declined to answer police questions and it was on the record that their solicitor had advised them not to do so, on the grounds that he considered them unfit because they were . .
Cited – Regina v Bowden (BT) CACD 10-Feb-1999
The defendant was charged with robbing a McDonald’s restaurant. He had refused to answer questions when interviewed on arrest, and his solicitor had put on record that this was on the grounds that the solicitor did not think the evidence strong . .
Cited – Regina v Wishart CACD 2005
The defendant had relied on an alibi not advanced in police interviews. He had put in evidence the fact that he had had legal advice not to answer questions but had not adduced any evidence of the contents of or reasons for that advice. The Crown . .
Cited – General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation v Tanter (‘The Zephyr’) 1984
When considering the extent to which a court should order partial disclosure of legally privileged advice, the test is one of fairness in the conduct of the trial. It should be left to the trial judge to determine whether a party in the evidence . .
Cited – Loizou, Regina v CACD 14-Jul-2006
The defendant appealed against her conviction for assisting in the disposal of the proceeds of criminal activity, saying that the judge had incorrectly ruled that she had waived legal privilege as to the advice given to her at the police station, . .
Cited – B and Others Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet and Co v Auckland District Law Society, Gary J Judd PC 19-May-2003
(New Zealand) Solicitors resisted requests to disclose papers in breach of legal professional privilege from their professional body investigating allegations of professional misconduct against them.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.421562

Application for leave was not itself an appeal.

The court considered what was meant by ‘substantial injustice’ after conviction after refusal of leave to appeal.
Held: The challenges failed. The court did not have jurisdiction to make the order sought. The section dealt with an appeal from any decision of the Court of appeal on appeal, and not on applications for leave.

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd CJ, Sir Brian Leveson P, Hallett LJ
[2017] EWCA Crim 59, [2017] WLR(D) 129
Bailii, WLRD
Criminal Appeal Act 1968 33
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.579617

The defendant had had his conviction for murder set aside after a finding of gross prosecutorial misconduct by the police. The Court was now asked as to the propriety of the order for a retrial. The police involved in the case had misled the CPS, the defence and the Court as to benefits provided to the informant on whose evidence the case was largely based.
Held: The appeal failed (Brown, Collins LL dissenting) The question of ordering a retrial was, by the 1968 Act a matter of discretion, made ‘in the interests of justice’: ‘The interests of justice is not a hard-edged concept. A decision as to what the interests of justice requires calls for an exercise of judgment in which a number of relevant factors have to be taken into account and weighed in the balance. In difficult borderline cases, there may be scope for legitimate differences of opinion. I do not believe it to be controversial that a decision under section 7 of the 1968 Act as to whether the interests of justice require a retrial calls for an exercise of judgment which should only be upset on appeal if it was plainly wrong in the sense that it is one which no reasonable court could have made or if the court took into account immaterial factors or failed to take into account material factors.2
As to the issue of abuse of process, where justice required a hearing, Lord Dyson JSC said that: ‘the court is concerned to protect the integrity of the criminal justice system. Here a stay will be granted where the court concludes that in all the circumstances a trial will offend the court’s sense of justice and propriety . . or will undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system and bring it into disrepute . .’

Lord Rodger, Lord Brown, Lord Mance, Lord Collins, Lord Dyson
[2010] UKSC 48, [2011] 2 Cr App Rep 31, [2011] 1 WLR 1837, UKSC 2010/0003
Bailii, SC Summary, SC
Criminal Appeal Act 1968 7(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Horseferry Road Magistrates’ Court, ex Parte Bennett (No 1) HL 24-Jun-1993
The defendant had been brought to the UK in a manner which was in breach of extradition law. He had, in effect, been kidnapped by the authorities.
Held: The High Court may look at how an accused person was brought within the jurisdiction when . .
Cited – Regina v Latif; Regina v Shahzad HL 23-Jan-1996
The defendant had been lured into the UK by the unlawful acts of customs officers. He claimed abuse of process.
Held: The category of cases in which the abuse of process principles can be applied is not closed. A customs officer committing an . .
Cited – Regina v Mullen CACD 4-Feb-1999
British authorities, in disregard of available extradition procedures, initiated and procured the unlawful deportation of the appellant from Zimbabwe to England. The appellant was charged and tried for conspiracy to cause explosions likely to . .
Cited – Panday v Virgil PC 9-Apr-2008
(Trinidad and Tobago) The defendant’s appeal against conviction had succeeded on the basis of apparent bias in the tribunal. He now appealed the order remitting the case to be reheard, saying that a fair trial was no longer possible.
Held: The . .
Cited – Connelly v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 1964
Plea of Autrefois Acquit is Narrow in Scope
The defendant had been tried for and acquitted of murder. The prosecution then sought to have him tried for robbery out of the same alleged facts. The House considered his plea of autrefois convict.
Held: The majority identified a narrow . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Humphrys HL 1977
Humphrys was charged with driving while disqualified. The issue was the correctness of the identification by a police constable. In evidence, Humphrys denied that he was the driver, or indeed that he had driven any car during the year in question. . .
Cited – Regina v Derby Magistrates Court, ex parte Brooks 1993
Looking at the court’s power to halt a prosecution as an abuse of process, the court said: ‘The power to stop a prosecution arises only when it is an abuse of a process of the court. It may be an abuse of process if either (a) the prosecution have . .
Cited – Regina v Derby Magistrates Court Ex Parte B HL 19-Oct-1995
No Breach of Solicitor Client Confidence Allowed
B was charged with the murder of a young girl. He made a confession to the police, but later changed his story, saying his stepfather had killed the girl. He was acquitted. The stepfather was then charged with the murder. At his committal for trial, . .
Cited – Regina v Tantram; Regina v Bibby etc CACD 24-May-2001
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy in have combined to put into the human food chain poultry meat which had been condemned as unfit. The jury after retiremen had indicated that they had reached agreement on some . .
Cited – Regina v Looseley (orse Loosely); Attorney General’s Reference No 3 of 2000 HL 25-Oct-2001
Police Entrapment is no defence to Criminal Act
The defendant complained of his conviction for supplying controlled drugs, saying that the undercover police officer had requested him to make the supply.
Held: It was an abuse of process for the police to go so far as to incite a crime.
Cited – Regina v Regan 14-Feb-2002
Canlii Supreme Court of Canada – Criminal law – Remedies – Abuse of process – Stay of proceedings – Accused charged with sex-related offences – Police identifying accused as suspect before charges laid – Crown . .
Cited – Regina v Early, Regina v Bajwa, Regina v Vickers etc CACD 26-Jul-2002
The appellants challenged their convictions after several trials, alleging dishonesty on the part of the Customs and Excise prosecuting team in misleading the trial judges when making pre-trial applications. Several prosecutions had depended upon . .

Cited by:
Cited – Hamilton and Others v Post Office Ltd CACD 15-Jan-2021
Good Reason to Pursue Second Appeal
The appellants had been convicted of fraud against the Post Office. The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred their convictions on two grounds, namely abuse of process for the inability to provide a fair trial, and that the trial was an affront . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.526419

The court heard conjoined applications for leave to appeal against conviction submitted by JP and Lubemba – what measures a trial judge may legitimately take to protect a vulnerable witness, without impacting adversely on the right of an accused to a fair trial.
Held: Guidance was given as to what steps could properly be taken to protect a vulnerable witness whilst not prejudicing a defendant: ‘The court is required to take every reasonable step to encourage and facilitate the attendance of vulnerable witnesses and their participation in the trial process. To that end, judges are taught, in accordance with the Criminal Practice Directions, that it is best practice to hold hearings in advance of the trial to ensure the smooth running of the trial, to give any special measures directions and to set the ground rules for the treatment of a vulnerable witness. We would expect a ground rules hearing in every case involving a vulnerable witness, save in very exceptional circumstances. If there are any doubts on how to proceed, guidance should be sought from those who have the responsibility for looking after the witness and or an expert.’

Hallett LJ VP CACD, Sweeney, Warby JJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 2064, [2015] 1 WLR 1579, [2015] 1 Cr App R 12, [2015] Crim LR 237, [2014] WLR(D) 472
Bailii, WLRD
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.539453

The power at common law to impose a stay on a criminal matter is discretionary, and a stay ‘should only be employed in exceptional circumstances’.
The task for the courts is to decide: ‘whether, in all the circumstances, the situation created by the delay is such as to make it an unfair employment of the powers of the court any longer to hold the defendant to account.’ . . And ‘Naturally the longer the delay the more likely it will be that the prosecution is at fault, and that the delay has caused prejudice to the defendant; and the less that the prosecution has to offer by explanation, the more easily can fault be inferred. But the establishment of these facts is only one step on the way to a consideration of whether, in all the circumstances , the situation created by the delay is such as to make it an unfair employment of the powers of the Court any longer to hold the defendant to account. This is a question to be decided in the round, and nothing is to be gained by the introduction of shifting burdens of proof, which serves only to break down into formal steps what is in reality a single appreciation of what is or is not unfair.’

Lord Mustill
[1992] 2 AC 205, [1993] 2 All ER 493, [1992] 3 WLR 249, (1993) 96 Cr App R 172
Commonwealth
Citing:
Applied – Attorney General’s Reference (No 1 of 1990) CACD 3-Jun-1992
The jurisdiction to stay criminal proceedings on the ground of delay is exceptional, even where the delay was unjustifiable, and a stay should rarely be imposed in the absence of any fault on the part of the complainant or prosecution, and should . .

Cited by:
Cited – Gibbs and others v Rea PC 29-Jan-1998
(Cayman Islands) The respondent worked for a bank. He disclosed a business interest, but that interest grew in importance to the point where he resigned in circumstances amounting to constructive dismissal. His home and business officers were raided . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.184708

Adverse inference – no direct questions

Appeal from conviction – wrongful use of section 34 of 1994 Act after no comment interview. The defendant argued that no actual questions had been asked.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘in order for the section to operate it is necessary that the defendant is being questioned under caution and fails to mention a fact later relied upon. The defendant is questioned under caution, in our judgment, if the circumstances are such that he is expressly or by necessary implication invited to give his account of the matter which has given rise to the interview. It is not necessary that specific questions are asked of him.’

[2019] EWCA Crim 411
Bailii
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 34
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.635274

Sureties must fulfil duty to ensure surrender

(Westminster Magistrates Court) The parties had given surety for a Julian Assange who had been granted bail. On his failure to surrender to bail, the recognizances were declared forfeit. The parties now appealed. They had not attended the hearing at which the declarations were made.
Held: The sureties had none of them sought to persuade Mr Assange to surrender. This was a matter of principle and admirable accordingly, and ‘I accept that the sureties all acted in good faith. I accept that they trusted Mr Assange to surrender himself as required. I accept that they followed the proceedings and made necessary arrangements to remain in contact with him. However, they failed in their basic duty, to ensure his surrender. They must have understood the risk and the concerns of the courts. Both this court and the High Court assessed that there were substantial grounds to believe the defendant would abscond, and that the risk could only be met by stringent conditions including the sureties. They have also, for reasons I have heard and understand, declined to exert such influence as they may have on Mr Assange to surrender.’ Each surety had part only of the recognizance forfeited.

Judge Howard Riddle SDJ
[2012] EW Misc 22 (MC)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority SC 30-May-2012
The defendant sought to resist his extradition under a European Arrest Warrant to Sweden to face charges of sexual assaults. He said that the prosecutor who sought the extradition was not a judicial authority within the Framework Decision.
Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.510058

The claimant, the victim of an alleged assault, challenged the failure of the respondent to quash a conditional caution given to the assailant. The respondent accepted that a decision to prosecute would have been appropriate.
Held: The offence did not meet the criteria of the Code for Crown prosecutors for a caution since it involved serious violence, injury and the question of a criminal prosecution was not merely academic. The caution was quashed.

Goldring LJ, Sweeney J
[2009] EWHC 594 (Admin), [2009] 2 Cr App R 26, (2009) 173 JP 511, [2009] Crim LR 730
Bailii
Criminal Justice Act 2003 22 23 24 25 26 27
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – C v Director of Public Prosecutions; Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions ex parte C 1995
A CPS decision not to prosecute was quashed because the decision-maker had failed to have regard to one of the matters identified in the relevant part of The Code for Crown Prosecutors. . .
Cited – Regina v Abu Hamza CACD 28-Nov-2006
The defendant had faced trial on terrorist charges. He claimed that delay and the very substantial adverse publicity had made his fair trial impossible, and that it was not an offence for a foreign national to solicit murders to be carried out . .
Cited – Jones v Whalley HL 26-Jul-2006
The appellant had assaulted the respondent. He had accepted a caution for the offence, but the claimant had then pursued a private prosecution. He now appealed refusal of a stay, saying it was an abuse of process.
Held: The defendant’s appeal . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.324680

The defendant appealed against a confiscation order, made on the basis of evidence secured from a probe installed in his car. He had made clear that he disputed the recordings. A second judge had inherited the proceedings, and ruled that he could not challenge the recordings.
Held: There is no authority for the proposition that by pleading guilty and declining to challenge the prosecution evidence in a Newton hearing, the defendant accepted all the prosecution evidence for the purposes of the confiscation process. The judge’s ruling that the appellant was not entitled to challenge the authenticity of the recordings or the inferences to be drawn from them was wrong in law.

Moses LJ, Hedley, Russell JJ
[2009] EWCA Crim 1363, Times 17-Aug-2009, [2010] 1 WLR 435, [2010] 1 Cr App R (S) 75
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Tolera CACD 7-Apr-1998
A defendant asking to be sentenced on a factual basis other than the prosecution sought, should first put the basis in writing. Where the differences might affect sentence then a Newton hearing would be appropriate. Where a defendant’s account, as . .
Cited – Edwards, Regina (on the application of) v Environment Agency HL 16-Apr-2008
The applicants sought to challenge the grant of a permit by the defendant to a company to operate a cement works, saying that the environmental impact assessment was inadequate.
Held: The Agency had been justified in allowing the application . .
Cited – Regina v Rezvi HL 24-Jan-2002
Having been convicted of theft, a confiscation order had been made against which the appellant appealed. The Court of Appeal certified a question of whether confiscation provisions under the 1988 Act were in breach of the defendant’s human rights. . .
Cited – Lunnon v Regina CACD 5-May-2004
The Crown had conceded that the appellant had had no prior involvement in drug-trafficking before the conspiracy in question which led to the confiscation proceedings.
Held: Such a concession should not be ignored unless and until it was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.347692

The defendant appealed against convictions for rape and sexual assault, criticising the judge’s comments to the jury about the credibility of a rape complainant delaying making a complaint. The prosecution said that the judges comments were justified.
Held: The judge is entitled to make comments as to the way evidence is to be approached particularly in areas where there is a danger of a jury coming to an unjustified conclusion without an appropriate warning, but any such comment must be uncontroversial. If not the court must hear evidence. In this case the judge had overstepped the mark, but on the facts the convictions were not unsafe.

Pill LJ, Jack, Openshaw JJ
[2008] EWCA Crim 2394, Times 26-Nov-2008
Bailii
England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.277148

Zinga had been convicted of conspiracy to defraud in a private prosecution brought by Virgin Media. After dismissal of the appeal against conviction, Virgin pursued confiscation proceedings. Zinga appealed against refusal of its argument that it was an abuse for a private prosecutor to take such action, even where as here that prosecutor had disclaimed any product of the order.
Held: The appeal failed. Confiscation proceedings are also part of criminal proceedings and within the scope of section 6 of the 1985 Act. POCA makes a distinction between those who can investigate and those who can prosecute. The fact that a prosecutor cannot investigate does not impair the ability to participate fully in confiscation proceedings, provided that an appropriate officer, as defined in POCA, assists that prosecutor by exercising the various investigatory powers. No inference as to the limitation on the meaning of prosecutor can therefore be drawn from this contention. The powers of confiscation are wide and clear justification is needed for actions taken under them. Howver, the decisions on confiscation are those of the court, and it should not make a difference who was prosecuting.

Sir John Thomas, Foskett, Hickinbotton JJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 52
Bailii
Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 6
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Rezvi HL 24-Jan-2002
Having been convicted of theft, a confiscation order had been made against which the appellant appealed. The Court of Appeal certified a question of whether confiscation provisions under the 1988 Act were in breach of the defendant’s human rights. . .
Cited – Jones v Whalley HL 26-Jul-2006
The appellant had assaulted the respondent. He had accepted a caution for the offence, but the claimant had then pursued a private prosecution. He now appealed refusal of a stay, saying it was an abuse of process.
Held: The defendant’s appeal . .
Cited – Rollins, Regina v SC 28-Jul-2010
The court was asked whether the Financial Services Authority had a power to prosecute money laundering offences under the 2002 Act, or whether, as contended by the defendant, its powers were limited to sections under the 2000 Act.
Held: The . .
Cited – Gujra, Regina (on The Application of) v Crown Prosecution Service SC 14-Nov-2012
The appellant had twice begun private prosecutions only to have them taken over by the CPS and discontinued. He complained that a change in their policy on such interventions interfered with his statutory and constitutional right to bring such a . .
Cited – YL v Birmingham City Council and Others HL 20-Jun-2007
The House was asked whether a private care home when providing accommodation and care to a resident under arrangements with a local authority the 1948 Act, is performing ‘functions of a public nature’ for the purposes of section 6(3)(b) of the Human . .
Cited – Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley, Warwickshire v Wallbank and another HL 26-Jun-2003
Parish Councils are Hybrid Public Authorities
The owners of glebe land were called upon as lay rectors to contribute to the cost of repairs to the local church. They argued that the claim was unlawful by section 6 of the 1998 Act as an act by a public authority incompatible with a Convention . .
Cited – Regina v Pawsey 1989
(Central Criminal Court ) The CPS was ordered to disclose unused witness statements and exhibits from the original investigation on the application of a private prosecutor once a prosecution had commenced. . .
Cited – Ewing, Regina (on the Application of) v Davis Admn 2-Jul-2007
The court considered whether the District Judge had been correct to refuse to issue summonses for private prosecutions where there was a suggestion that only a private dispute at stake.
Held: It ‘never was any requirement that a private . .
Cited – May, Regina v HL 14-May-2008
The defendant had been convicted of involvement in a substantial VAT fraud, and made subject to a confiscation order. He was made subject to a confiscation order in respect of the amounts lost to the fraud where he was involved, but argued that the . .
Cited – Waya, Regina v SC 14-Nov-2012
The defendant appealed against confiscation orders made under the 2002 Act. He had bought a flat with a substantial deposit from his own resources, and the balance from a lender. That lender was repaid after he took a replacement loan. He was later . .
Cited – Lamont-Perkins v Royal Society for The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals (RSPCA) Admn 24-Apr-2012
The defendant had been convicted of animal cruelty. She appealed to the Crown Court, and now appealed against rulings made by the judge as to the time limits for a prosecution under the 2006 Act in the Magistrates Court. She said that the RSPCA . .
Cited – Scopelight Ltd and Others v Chief of Police for Northumbria CA 5-Nov-2009
The claimant sought return of items removed by the defendants under the 1984 Act. A decision had been made against a prosecution by the police. The police wished to hold onto the items to allow a decision from the second defendant.
Held: The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.520745

Second Prosecution on Same Facts was An Abuse

The defendant appealed his conviction of causing death by dangerous driving. He appealed from the refusal of the judge to give a stay the prosecution as an abuse He had been previously prosecuted for a lesser offence on the same facts.
Held: The appeal succeeded. On a proper application of the principles outlined in Beedie and Phipps, the only proper course was to stay the second set of proceedings. No special circumstances had been established to allow a second attempt: ‘In our view, a change in position on charging made solely by reference to the new expert report obtained following initial conviction and sentence and founded on the same facts that were in existence at the time of the first charging decision cannot, in the circumstances of this case, amount to a special circumstance sufficient to justify refusing to grant a say.’ It was unfair and oppressive for the appellant to have to face a second prosecution.

David LJ, Lavender, Pepperall JJ
[2020] EWCA Crim 1319
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Henderson v Henderson 20-Jul-1843
Abuse of Process and Re-litigation
The court set down the principles to be applied in abuse of process cases, where a matter was raised again which should have been dealt with in earlier proceedings.
Sir James Wigram VC said: ‘In trying this question I believe I state the rule . .
Cited – Regina v Elrington 9-Nov-1861
The appellant’s co-accused had been summarily tried and acquitted of common assault. The accused was subsequently indicted on the same facts for assault causing grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm. The accused demurred.
Cited – Connelly v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 1964
Plea of Autrefois Acquit is Narrow in Scope
The defendant had been tried for and acquitted of murder. The prosecution then sought to have him tried for robbery out of the same alleged facts. The House considered his plea of autrefois convict.
Held: The majority identified a narrow . .
Cited – Regina v Beedie CACD 11-Mar-1997
Stay for Extended Autrefois Convict
The plea of autrefois convict applies only if the legal substance of the charges is same but the judge has a discretion. The plea is not limited to Connelly v DPP definitions, but is still narrow.
A 19-year-old girl died of carbon monoxide . .
Cited – LG, Regina v CACD 27-Mar-2018
Appeal from preliminary ruling refusing a stay of the prosecution as an abuse of process.
Held: A change of mind about the appropriate charging decision is not of itself a bar to a prosecution . .
Cited – Phipps, Regina v CACD 14-Jan-2005
The appellant had been convicted of driving with excess alcohol. After complaints by the injured victim’s family he was further prosecuted for dangerous driving. He now appealed his conviction, having pleaded guilty when the judge failed to find an . .
Cited – Dwyer v Regina CACD 11-Feb-2011
Further fresh evidential materials were sought to be relied upon in a second prosecution of the defendant.
Held: ‘In our judgment, the words ‘the same or substantially the same facts’ or ‘the same incident’ refer to the relevant state of . .
Cited – Quelch v Phipps QBD 10-Jan-1955
A bus driver failed to stop and provide information pursuant to section 22 of the Road Traffic Act 1930. A passenger had stepped off the back of the bus in Oxford High Street whilst the bus was moving and the passenger was injured. The driver was . .
Cited – LSA, Regina v CACD 16-May-2008
(Courts-Martial Appeals Court) The defendant had faced road traffic offence charges, but the court had discharged the case using the Forest of Dean case. The prosecutor sought to appeal but failed to give the undertaking with regard to taking no . .
Cited – Antoine v Regina CACD 15-Oct-2014
The Court was asked whether a prosecution should have been stayed as an abuse of the process of the court where the defendant had already been convicted and sentenced for lesser offences arising out of the same facts. The defendant was found with a . .
Cited – Foy, Regina v CACD 27-Feb-2020
Availability of defence of diminished responsibility.
Held: On appeals against conviction, the appellate court will ordinarily also be very wary of fresh evidence in the form of what is sometimes called ‘expert shopping’. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.654613

The court heard applications for leave to appeal on behalf of applicants who had either absconded or disappeared.
Held: The court considered whether the lawyers filing the appeals had authority, whether express or implied. ‘we are satisfied that the practice should be: applications from absconders should not be treated as ineffective per se. If there are grounds for believing an absconder has given authority to appeal, expressly or impliedly, or the case is one where the Court might wish to intervene in the interests of justice, the Court should proceed as normal.’
In Okedare’s case the matter raised an important issue as to te construction of a statute, and leave was given. In other caes leave was refused.

Hallett LJ VP CACD, Silber, Green JJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 228, [2014] 1 WLR 4071, [2014] 3 All ER 109
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Flower 1966
Widgery J said that the practice of the Court where an appellant escapes is either ‘to adjourn the appeal or dismiss it according to the justice of the case.’ . .
Cited – Regina v Gooch CACD 16-Jan-1998
Leave to appeal conviction and sentence had been given and the appellant absconded before the appeal against sentence could be determined. The Crown wanted the appeal resolved so that it could enforce a confiscation order, and therefore invited the . .
Cited – Regina v Charles, Regina v Tucker CACD 20-Feb-2001
Charles had absconded on the day he was convicted of robbery shortly before the summing up. He was arrested over a year later and sentenced. He gave instructions to his solicitors to advance and renew his applications for leave to appeal conviction . .
Cited – Regina v Jones (No 1) 1971
The court considered the position on hearing an appeal by a defendant who had absconded during his trial.
Held: A decision whether or not to appeal against conviction ‘cannot rationally be taken before the verdict is known’. It concluded that . .
Cited – Regina v Maguire CACD 1992
The defendant, convicted of murder, had died. It later came to light that materials with the prosecution forensic team had not been disclosed by the prosecution.
Held: The Home Secretary could make a reference to the Appeal court despite the . .
Cited – Riley and Others, Regina v CACD 1-Nov-2012
Two of the applicants had absconded. One of them Bradley absconded during his first trial, and was convicted in his absence at a re-trial. He sought to persuade the Court that grounds of appeal lodged on his behalf by counsel and solicitors who . .
Cited – Regina v KC CACD 2010
The Court was asked to entertain an application from lawyers acting for a man who had absconded during his trial on the basis his sentence was excessive. The argument focused on the fact the offences were historic and committed at a time a different . .
Cited – Regina v Kumar CACD 2007
The Court allowed the defendant’s appeal against sentence on the grounds it was excessive despite the fact the appellant had absconded from prison whilst serving his sentence. . .
Cited – Regina v McGing CACD 2005
The Court, proceeding on the basis the appellant’s counsel ‘had her instructions’, heard and determined an application to appeal sentence from a man who had absconded. It quashed an order ‘for return to prison’ made in error and in ignorance of an . .
Cited – L and Others v The Children’s Commissioner for England and Another CACD 21-Jun-2013
Even where it has been clearly established that a defendant had been trafficked that should not provide him with immunity from prosecution for a criminal offence. Lord Judge CJ explained that: ‘it has not, however, and could not have been argued . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.521632

The defendant appealed against his convictions for offences of rape and robbery. Towards the end of his trial, he had sacked his legal team, and had given no colsing address. He complained that the judge had even so allowed the prosecutor to ake an address.
Held: The application for leave to appeal failed. The court shared doubts that the convention that a rosecutor should not make a closing speech where a defendant was unrepresented still existed: ‘We prefer to approach the matter as an issue of balance and fairness. It is the overriding duty of any trial judge to ensure that an accused has a fair trial. As part of that duty it would be incumbent upon a trial judge, faced with an unrepresented accused, to assess all the circumstances of the case and decide whether or not it would be fair to allow prosecuting counsel to make a speech.’

Hallet VP CACD LJ, Cranston, Knowles JJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 2512
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Mondon CACD 1968
The appellant had been unrepresented throughout her trial. She appealed, complaining that the prosecutor had been allowed to make a closing speech.
Held: The conviction was quashed. Lord Justice Edmund Davies drew attention to the impact which . .
Cited – Regina v Pink CACD 1971
It is not an inevitable consequence of prosecuting counsel having improperly and inappropriately made a final speech in relation to an unrepresented defendant, that the conviction would be quashed: ‘In the view of this court, no reasonable jury, . .
Cited – Stovell, Regina v CACD 12-Jan-2006
The defendant appealed against his conviction. Before he gave evidence, his legal team withdrew for professional embarrassment. He now complained that notwithstanding that he was unrepresented, prosecuting counsel had been permitted to make a . .
Cited – Rabani, Regina v CACD 21-Aug-2008
The defendant appealed against his conviction. He had not been represented at trial, and several objections were taken to the conduct of the case, and in particular that prosecuting counsel had made a closing address, and that he had not been . .
Cited – Regina v Williams CACD 2011
The court went ahead on the basis it had been improper for prosecuting counsel to make a final speech where the defendant was not represented, and focussed solely on the question of safety of the conviction. . .
Cited – Regina v Paul CACD 2013
The defendant complained that even though no closing speech had been made on his behalf, the judge had allowed prosecuting counsel to make a closing speech.
Held: There is a convention that prosecuting counsel should not make a closing address . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.540491

The defendant sought to appeal against a ‘stand-alone’ anti-social behaviour order. The parties disputed whether an appeal lay. The act created an appeal against the making of an order but in this case it was a renewed order.
Held: In the county court there is a right of appeal against an ASBO and its variation to the High Court or Court of Appeal as appropriate, but only with permission. Permission would only be given if an appeal had a real prospect of success or there was some other good reason. There would only exceptionally be a rehearing. An ASBO, and probably a variation of an ASBO, made on conviction in the Crown Court is appealable to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) but only with leave, and an appeal would ordinarily only be allowed if the decision was wrong in principle or in some way manifestly excessive. An ASBO made in the magistrates’ court on conviction is, we think, appealable to the Crown Court under s.4 of the Act in the same way as a freestanding ASBO but in neither case is there a right of appeal against a variation of the original ASBO. Case stated and judicial review, are remedies available against the magistrates court but not the County Court.

Scott Baker LJ, Aikens J
[2008] EWHC 2623 (Admin), [2009] 1 WLR 1612, [2009] CP Rep 11, (2008) 172 JPN 845, [2009] ACD 34
Bailii
Crime and Disorder Act 1998 1(1) 4
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – B v Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary QBD 5-Apr-2000
The defendant appealed the making of a sex offender order under 1998 Act. The justices had found that the defendant was a sex offender within section 2(1)(a) and that he had acted on a number of occasions in a way which brought him within section . .
Cited – Leeds City Council v RG Admn 9-Jul-2007
The court has power to extend the term on an anti-social behaviour order when asked to vary its terms. There was however no right of appeal against the decision to vary an ASBO: ‘The fact that there is no appeal from any variation is a matter which . .
Cited – Lee v Leeds Crown Court 2006
The appellant appealed against the refusal of the Leeds Magistrates to vary or discharge a restraining order under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The recorder at the crown court ruled the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal. . .
Cited – Clingham (formerly C (a minor)) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Regina v Crown Court at Manchester Ex parte McCann and Others HL 17-Oct-2002
The applicants had been made subject of anti-social behaviour orders. They challenged the basis upon which the orders had been made.
Held: The orders had no identifiable consequences which would make the process a criminal one. Civil standards . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.277360

The appellant had assaulted the respondent. He had accepted a caution for the offence, but the claimant had then pursued a private prosecution. He now appealed refusal of a stay, saying it was an abuse of process.
Held: The defendant’s appeal succeeded. The caution had been a simple unconditional one. The notice accompanying it may have inaccurately described it as a criminal conviction. Though the 1986 Act did not prevent the right of a private prosecution after a caution, the appellant did not rely on that Act. His challenge was as to the fundamental unfairness of such a prosecution. He had been told that he would not be prosecuted, and he relied upon that representation before accepting the caution. This did not prevent such prosecutions after a caution had been given, but the caution as administered should follow Hayter with some adjustment.
Lord Mance observed: ‘the right of private prosecution operates and has been explained at the highest level as a safeguard against wrongful refusal or failure by public prosecuting authorities to institute proceedings’.
Lord Bingham said: ‘There are . . respected commentators who are of opinion that with the establishment of an independent, professional prosecuting service, with consent required to prosecute in some more serious classes of case, with the prosecution of some cases reserved to the Director, and with power in the Director to take over and discontinue private prosecutions, the surviving right is one of little, or even no, value . . [Counsel for the victim] is entitled to insist that the right of private prosecution continues to exist in England and Wales, and may have a continuing role. But it is hard to regard it as an important constitutional safeguard when, as I understand, private prosecutions are all but unknown in Scotland.’

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Lord Carswell, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, Lord Mance
[2006] UKHL 41, Times 31-Jul-2006, [2006] 3 WLR 179, [2007] 1 AC 63, [2007] 1 Cr App R 2, [2007] Crim LR 74, [2006] 4 All ER 113
Bailii, HL
Prosecution of Offences Act 1985
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Jones v Whalley Admn 10-May-2005
The defendant had been cautioned by the police for an assault on the claimant. The claimant then began a private prosecution which the magistrates stayed as an abuse of process.
Held: The caution administered was not simply a conviction so as . .
Cited – Regina v Croydon Justices Ex Parte Dean QBD 9-Mar-1993
The applicant a 17 year old assisted the police in a murder investigation on the understanding, induced by the police, that he would not himself be prosecuted. Some weeks later, at the instance of the CPS, the applicant was charged with a lesser . .
Cited – Gouriet v Union of Post Office Workers HL 26-Jul-1977
The claimant sought an injunction to prevent the respondent Trades Union calling on its members to boycott mail to South Africa. The respondents challenged the ability of the court to make such an order.
Held: The wide wording of the statute . .
Cited – R, Regina (on the Application of) v Durham Constabulary and Another HL 17-Mar-2005
The appellant, a boy aged 15, had been warned as to admitted indecent assaults on girls. He complained that it had not been explained to him that the result would be that his name would be placed on the sex offenders register. The Chief Constable . .
Cited – Regina v West London Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Klahn QBD 1979
The issue of a summons by a magistrate is a judicial act: ‘The duty of a magistrate in considering an application for the issue of a summons is to exercise a judicial discretion in deciding whether or not to issue a summons. It would appear that he . .
Cited – Regina v Horseferry Road Magistrates’ Court, ex Parte Bennett (No 1) HL 24-Jun-1993
The defendant had been brought to the UK in a manner which was in breach of extradition law. He had, in effect, been kidnapped by the authorities.
Held: The High Court may look at how an accused person was brought within the jurisdiction when . .
Cited – Hayter v L and Another QBD 3-Feb-1998
A private prosecution of a youth for an offence after he had accepted a caution was not an abuse of process, since the cautioner had warned him of the possibility. Poole J said: ‘The right of private prosecutions is subject to a number of procedural . .

Cited by:
Cited – Guest v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 5-Mar-2009
The claimant, the victim of an alleged assault, challenged the failure of the respondent to quash a conditional caution given to the assailant. The respondent accepted that a decision to prosecute would have been appropriate.
Held: The offence . .
Cited – Rollins, Regina v CACD 9-Oct-2009
The court was asked whether the Financial Services Authority had itself the power to prosecute offences under the 2002 Act. The defence said that the FSA’s powers were limited to offences under the 2000 Act. The FSA relied on its common law power to . .
Distinguished – Gore, Regina v; Regina v Maher CACD 14-Jul-2009
The defendants appealed aginst their convictions for inflicting grievous bodily harm. When first arrested they had been issued with fixed penalty tickets for much lesser offences. The police officers did not anticipate the seriousness of the . .
Cited – Scopelight Ltd and Others v Chief of Police for Northumbria CA 5-Nov-2009
The claimant sought return of items removed by the defendants under the 1984 Act. A decision had been made against a prosecution by the police. The police wished to hold onto the items to allow a decision from the second defendant.
Held: The . .
Cited – Rollins, Regina v SC 28-Jul-2010
The court was asked whether the Financial Services Authority had a power to prosecute money laundering offences under the 2002 Act, or whether, as contended by the defendant, its powers were limited to sections under the 2000 Act.
Held: The . .
Cited – Gujra, Regina (on The Application of) v Crown Prosecution Service Admn 9-Mar-2011
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision of the respondent to take over and discontinue his private prosecutions arising from public order incidents, saying that the respondent’s policy was unlawful in restricting such prosecutions.
Cited – Gujra, Regina (on The Application of) v Crown Prosecution Service SC 14-Nov-2012
The appellant had twice begun private prosecutions only to have them taken over by the CPS and discontinued. He complained that a change in their policy on such interventions interfered with his statutory and constitutional right to bring such a . .
Cited – Virgin Media Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Zinga CACD 24-Jan-2014
Zinga had been convicted of conspiracy to defraud in a private prosecution brought by Virgin Media. After dismissal of the appeal against conviction, Virgin pursued confiscation proceedings. Zinga appealed against refusal of its argument that it was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.243432

Post Office Prosecutions were an abuse

This judgment concerns forty-two men and women who were employed by Post Office Limited as sub-postmasters, sub-postmistresses, managers or counter assistants. They were all prosecuted by their employer and convicted of crimes of dishonesty. Many years later, their cases have been referred to this court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission – whether their prosecutions were an abuse of the process of the court and whether their convictions are unsafe. In particular, we must consider issues as to the reliability of the computerised accounting system, ‘Horizon’, which was in use in branch post offices during the relevant period.

Lord Justice Holroyde
[2021] EWCA Crim 577
Bailii, Judiciary
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Bates and Others v Post Office Ltd QBD 10-Nov-2017
Directions in group litigation – claims by former postmasters against the PO for dismissals and prosecutions arising from faulty Horizon accounting software. . .
See Also – Bates and Others v Post Office Ltd QBD 17-Oct-2018
Application by the defendant to strike out considerable passages of the evidence contained in the six witness statements lodged by the claimants. . .
See Also – Bates and Others v Post Office Ltd (No 3) QBD 15-Mar-2019
Group litigation claiming damages for post office sub-postmasters for financial losses from malfunctioning accounting software. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.662156

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 abuse in holding the third trial. There had been differences in the ways both cases had been presented, but the defence had not been prejudiced. However: ‘the jurisdiction which permits a second re-trial after two jury disagreements in circumstances like the present must be exercised with extreme caution. The broad public interest in the administration of criminal justice leads us to the clear view that a second re-trial should be confined to the very small number of cases in which the jury is being invited to address a crime of extreme gravity which has undoubtedly occurred (as here) and in which the evidence that the defendant committed the crime (again, as here), on any fair minded objective judgment remains very powerful.’

Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice, Mr Justice Simon and Mr Justice Royce
[2010] EWCA Crim 3, Times 26-Jan-2010
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Forrester Bowe (Junior) v The Queen PC 10-Apr-2001
PC (The Bahamas) The Board considered a suggestion that the defendants second re-trial for murder was an abuse of process: ‘It is a common practice for prosecutors in England and Wales to offer no evidence . .
Cited – Regina v Byrne CACD 15-Feb-2002
. .
Cited – Regina v Benguit CACD 2002
. .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.392986

The prosecutor appealed against a stay of the prosecution as an abuse. The prosecution had failed give the undertaking necessary on lodging the appeal to the court against whose ruling it wanted to appeal, that it agreed that the defendant should be acquitted if leave to appeal was not obtained or the appeal was abandoned before being determined.
Held: The court sat as a five judge court to reconcile conflicting rulings in previous cases. A court would not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal. It was for the prosecutor to comply with the Act, not for the court to remedy the failure. The law was new and a major change in criminal law practice.
‘The requirement that the statutory undertaking in relation to the acquittal agreement should be given, and the latest time for giving it, are pre-conditions to this particular appeal process. Unless these mandatory pre-conditions are established, the court is unable to vest itself with a jurisdiction which it does not have, or permit the prosecution to exercise a power which it has failed to exercise in accordance with the statutory provisions. In summary therefore, the conclusion we have reached on the basis of the structure of the statute is that the failure by the prosecution to comply with the statutory requirement laid down by section 58(8) leads to the inevitable conclusion that it was deprived of or deprived itself of the power to appeal this terminating ruling.’

Lord Judge LCJ, Moses LJ, rafferty J, Wilkie J, Maddison J
[2010] EWCA Crim 711, [2010] WLR (D) 93, [2010] 4 All ER 545, [2010] 2 Cr App Rep 12, [2010] Crim LR 711, [2010] 1 WLR 2655
Bailii, WLRD
Criminal Justice Act 2003
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – LSA, Regina v CACD 16-May-2008
(Courts-Martial Appeals Court) The defendant had faced road traffic offence charges, but the court had discharged the case using the Forest of Dean case. The prosecutor sought to appeal but failed to give the undertaking with regard to taking no . .
Cited – Crown Prosecution Service v C, M and H CACD 11-Dec-2009
The CPS sought leave to appeal against a terminating ruling. It had failed to produce and serve evidence on the defendant even after an adjournment for the purpose. The judge directed an acquittal and refused an adjournment to allow the CPS to . .
Cited – Regina v Soneji and Bullen HL 21-Jul-2005
The defendants had had confiscation orders made against them. They had appealed on the basis that the orders were made more than six months after sentence. The prosecutor now appealed saying that the fact that the order were not timely did not . .
Cited – Clarke, Regina v CACD 9-Oct-2007
. .
Cited – Clarke, Regina v; Regina v McDaid HL 6-Feb-2008
An indictment had not been signed despite a clear statutory provision that it should be. The defects were claimed to have been cured by amendment before sentence.
Held: The convictions failed. Sections 1(1) and 2(1) of the 1933 Act which . .
Cited – T, Regina v CACD 23-Sep-2009
. .
Cited – AT and MT, Regina v CACD 12-Mar-2009
Application for leave to appeal. . .

Cited by:
Cited – Regina v F CACD 14-Mar-2013
The crown sought leave to appeal against a terminating ruling. The defendant was accused of rape and sexual assault against his sister, profoundly deaf and with learning difficulties. The judge had found the victim to not be competent to give . .
Cited – PY, Regina v CACD 22-Jan-2019
Police ‘lawful use’ of dog must be police work
The prosecutor wished to appeal from the acquittal of a police officer, whose police dog, while being exercised, attacked a runner causing injury. The judge had accepted the defence, since the dog required exercise, the officer was using the dog for . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.408576

Directions as to the effect of witness training

(Crown Court at Chester) The judge gave directions as to the effect of witness training: ‘The course was delivered by a member of the Bar I judge to have been well aware of the implications. She took pains to ensure that any witnesses who attended her courses knew of the possible consequences of collusion and she forbade it. No attempt was made to indulge in application of the facts of this case or anything remotely resembling them. True it is that witnesses would have undergone a process of familiarisation with the pitfalls of giving evidence and were instructed how best to prepare for the ordeal. This, it seems to me, was an exercise any witness would be entitled to enjoy were it available. No one engaged in special pleading with a view to gaining any expertise beyond the application of sound common sense.
I do not accept that this training, if such is the correct description, was capable of converting a lying but incompetent witness into a lying but impressive witness. Having considered the course content in some detail it seems to me that witnesses can have gained only a rudimentary understanding of what was to come and received no coaching in how to lend a specious quality to their evidence. What they would have received was knowledge of the process involved. It was lack of knowledge and understanding which created demand for support in the first place. Acquisition of knowledge and understanding has probably prepared them better for the experience of giving evidence. They will be better able to give a sequential and coherent account. None of this gives them an unfair advantage over any other witness. Although ease of manner or confidence in the witness box, if it exists, may be a matter of consideration by a jury, it does not seem to me that the ultimate judgment whether the witness is credible or not will depend on such considerations.’

Pitchford J
Unreported, 19 May 2004
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Ultraframe (UK) Ltd v Fielding and others ChD 27-Jul-2005
The parties had engaged in a bitter 95 day trial in which allegations of forgery, theft, false accounting, blackmail and arson. A company owning patents and other rights had become insolvent, and the real concern was the destination and ownership of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.230266

The defendant sought an extension of time for leave to appeal against his conviction for fraud. After his conviction there had been academic debate as to its basis, and the present application was not opposed. He had originally been charged under the Fraud Act 2006, but in relation to events taking place before it came into effect. This mistake was corrected by amendment, but it was now said that the new allegations fell foul of the rule in Preddy.
Held: The appeal was allowed. Though the defendant had pleaded guilty, and the mistake might still have been corrected and the defendant convicted, the mistake was egregious and it required correction applying Forde.
Sir Brian Leveson P said: ‘This case reveals many failings in the system primarily on the part of the Crown Prosecution Service and the prosecution but extending beyond that to the defence and the court. We would expect the Director of Public Prosecutions to institute an urgent review of how charging practice could so utterly have failed accurately to identify the offences which this comparatively common conduct revealed and to institute measures to ensure that failures of this type will not recur. It is equally incumbent on those acting for defendants to scrutinise the indictment and ensure that it is not proceeding on a basis unjustified in law.
The judiciary, of course, has a critical part to play and judges, also, must be satisfied that indictments which will form the basis for sentences after a plea of guilty or trials (and possible sentence) proceed on a legally sound footing but it must be recognised that our system is adversarial and relies on the parties to ensure that legal and procedural proprieties are observed. Judges will inevitably focus on the particular issues placed before them: care must be taken by everyone to identify what those issues should be.’

Sir Brian Leveson P QBD, Wilkie, Lang DBE JJ
[2014] EWCA Crim 714, [2014] WLR(D) 175
Bailii, WLRD
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Rex v Forde CCA 1923
A man, under the age of 23, had intercourse with a 15 year-old girl. He was charged with offences against section 5(1) of the 1885 Act and section 52 of the 1861 Act, relating to the same act of intercourse. He pleaded not guilty to the first (more . .
Cited – Regina v Boal (Francis) CACD 3-Jun-1992
A temporary manager brought in for a week was not a responsible officer for fire precautions’ breaches. An appeal against conviction after a plea of guilty has been tendered will only be entertained in exceptional circumstances, for example where an . .
Cited – Regina v Preddy; Regina v Slade; Regina v Dhillon (Conjoined Appeals) HL 10-Jul-1996
The appellants were said to have made false mortgage applications. They appealed convictions for dishonestly obtaining property by deception.
Held: A chose in action created by an electronic bank transfer was not property which was capable of . .
Cited – Regina v Wilson (Clarence); Regina v Jenkins HL 1983
The court considered the application of the section on alternative verdicts available to juries on a trial for attempted murder. The allegations in a charge under section 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 or under section 9(1)(b) of the . .
Cited – Ramzan and Others, Regina v CACD 21-Jul-2006
The court considered its power on allowing an appeal after a plea of guilty to substitute a conviction for an appropriate lesser offence.
Held: Hughes LJ said that section 3A of the 1968 Act imposed a two stage test. The court considering . .
Cited – Clarke, Regina v; Regina v McDaid HL 6-Feb-2008
An indictment had not been signed despite a clear statutory provision that it should be. The defects were claimed to have been cured by amendment before sentence.
Held: The convictions failed. Sections 1(1) and 2(1) of the 1933 Act which . .
Cited – Waya, Regina v CACD 25-Mar-2010
The defendant appealed against a confiscation order after his conviction for obtaining a mortgage advance by fraud. Though he had obtained 450k, the house he had purchased had increased considerably in value. The original loan had been repaid in . .
Cited – Waya, Regina v SC 14-Nov-2012
The defendant appealed against confiscation orders made under the 2002 Act. He had bought a flat with a substantial deposit from his own resources, and the balance from a lender. That lender was repaid after he took a replacement loan. He was later . .
Cited – Stocker, Regina v CACD 13-Nov-2013
The prosecutor had made an error in framing a charge against the defendant, who now appealed saying that it was a nullity. After reviewing the authorities, Hallet LJ noted that there was now ‘a clear judicial and legislative steer away from quashing . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.523751

Rejection of Submission of No Case to Answer

The defendant had faced a charge of affray. The court having rejected his submission of having no case to answer, he had made an exculpatory statement from the dock. He appealed against his conviction.
Held: Lord Lane LCJ said: ‘How then should the judge approach a submission of ‘no case’?
(1) If there is no evidence that the crime alleged has been committed by the defendant, there is no difficulty. The judge will of course stop the case.
(2) The difficulty arises where there is some evidence but it is of a tenuous character, for example, because of inherent weakness or vagueness or because it is inconsistent with other evidence.
(a) Where the judge comes to the conclusion that the prosecution evidence, taken at its highest, is such that a jury properly directed could not properly convict upon it, it is his duty, upon a submission being made, to stop the case.
(b) Where however the prosecution evidence is such that its strength or weakness depends on the view to be taken of a witness’ reliability, or other matters which are generally speaking within the province of the jury and where on one possible view of the facts there is evidence upon which a jury could properly come to the conclusion that the defendant is guilty, then the judge should allow the matter to be tried by the jury.
It follows that we think the second of the two schools of thought is to be preferred. There will of course, as always in this branch of the law, be borderline cases. They can safely be left to the discretion of the judge.’

Lord Lane CJ
(1981) 73 Cr App R 124, [1981] 2 All ER 1060, [1981] 1 WLR 1039, 2 Crim LR 767
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Inner London South District Coroner Ex Parte Douglas-Williams CA 30-Jul-1998
A coroner had the right not to leave all possible verdicts to a jury, even including one possibly supported by the evidence, where the overwhelming evidence pointed one way, and possible confusion of jury might be caused by leaving all verdicts to . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Spicer Admn 13-Mar-1997
The defendant had successfully argued no case to answer, on a charge of driving without due care. The prosecutor appealed by way of case stated. From the detailed notes available to the court, it was clear that there was evidence before them to put . .
Cited – Khan, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Coroner for West Hertfordshire and Another Admn 7-Mar-2002
The deceased died in police custody. The coroner refused to leave to the jury possible verdicts of unlawful killing, or death contributed to by neglect, or breach of his right to life. He adjourned the hearing to allow this challenge.
Held: . .
Cited – Meade v Pugh and Another QBD 5-Mar-2004
The claimant was a social work student. He attended a work experience placement, and challenged the report given by the defendants on that placement, saying it was discriminatory and defamatory. He appealed a strike out of his claim.
Held: The . .
Explained – Regina v Shippey and Jedynak 1988
The defendants were tried for rape. The defence pleaded no case to answer saying that the complainant’s evidence was weak uncorroborated and inconsistent.
Held: The judge should assess the evidence and if the evidence of the witness upon whom . .
Cited – Regina (Anderson and Others) v HM Coroner for Inner North Greater London QBD 26-Nov-2004
The deceased suffered depressive mental illness, and was detained outside on a cold night naked and in a cannabis induced delirium. Because of his size, additional officers were called upon to assist restraining him. He was taken to hospital, but . .
Cited – Regina v HM Coroner for Inner London South District, ex parte Douglas-Williams CA 29-Jan-1998
The deceased died in custody. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. It was suggested that the coroner’s direction as to unlawful killing had been confusing, and that he was wrong not to leave open the possibility of a verdict of neglect. . .
Cited – Re N CA 20-May-1999
The claimant was a victim of a rape. She alleged that the police had mishandled the prosecution, resulting in the dismissal of the charges against the defendant, which in turn, she said exacerbated her own post traumatic stress disorder.
Held: . .
Cited – Dacre Son and Hartley Ltd v North Yorkshire Trading Standards Admn 27-Oct-2004
The defendants appealed a conviction under the Act complaining of the adequacy of the evidence presented. A buyer had found dampness in a property. It was later remarketed by the defendant who asked if it suffered dampness. She was told it did not. . .
Cited – Regina v Her Majesty’s Coroner for Exeter and East Devon ex parte Palmer CA 10-Dec-1997
The deceased died in Dartmoor prison. He had been held in seclusion. When visited he was said to have attacked the guards. He was restrained until a body belt could be brought. The period of restraint exceeded the maximum recommended, and the . .
Cited – Gibson, Regina v CACD 11-Jan-2006
The defendant renewed has application for leave to appeal against his conviction for the murder of his daughter-in-law. The principle evidence against him was that of an accomplice. She had received letters to say that no further action would be . .
Cited – H, Regina v CACD 25-Apr-2006
The defendant youth appealed his conviction and sentence for rape by oral penetration of a six or seven year old boy. He complained that the evidence contained such inconsistences that the case should not have proceeded. Complaint was also made that . .
Cited – Owens and Another, Regina v CACD 6-Sep-2006
The defendants appealed convictions and sentence (6 and 4 years) for conspiracy to sell red diesel as ‘DERV’ and for money laundering of the proceeds of the crime. The sums involved exceeded andpound;1.4m. They said that documents should not have . .
Cited – Regina v Governor of Pentonville Prison Ex Parte Alves HL 2-Dec-1992
In extradition proceedings, the withdrawal of a statement did not of itself vitiate that statement or the proceedings. The Galbraith test applied to committals in extradition proceedings just as it does to domestic criminal trials. . .
Cited – Raissi, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department Admn 22-Feb-2007
The claimant sought judicial review of a refusal to make an ex gratia payment for his imprisonment whilst successfully resisting extradition proceedings. Terrorist connections had been suggested, but the judge made an explicit finding that at no . .
Cited – IK, Regina v CACD 8-Mar-2007
The prosecutor appealed a finding that the proceeds of cheating the revenue were not the proceeds of crime within the 2002 Act.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The case was different from Galbraith in that there was a clear finding of a cheat. The . .
Cited – Bennett, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Coroner for Inner South London and others CA 26-Jun-2007
The deceased had been shot by the police, who mistakenly believed him to be armed. Judicial review was sought saying that the coroner had wrongly refused to leave to the jury the possible verdict of unlawful killing.
Held: The appeal was . .
Cited – Labastide and Carty, Regina v CACD 19-Nov-2008
The defendants appealed their conviction for murder. They were said to have been members of a gang, and were present and armed and part of the joint enterprise leading to the murder. The convictions were based on identification evidence from . .
Cited – N Ltd and Another, Regina v CACD 10-Jun-2008
The defence had requested and been give a ruling of no case to answer. The prosecutor now appealed saying that this had been before he had closed the prosecution case, and had been not with his consent.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. . .
Cited – Regina v Khan CACD 27-Jul-2009
On his trial for murder the defendant produced unchallenged expert evidence that at the time of the offence, his mental responsibility for the killing was substantially impaired by his mental illness. He said that in these circumstances the charge . .
Cited – Horncastle and Others, Regina v SC 9-Dec-2009
Each defendant said they had not received a fair trial in that the court had admitted written evidence of a witness he had not been allowed to challenge. The witnesses had been victims, two of whom had died before trial. It was suggested that the . .
Cited – Gujra, Regina (on The Application of) v Crown Prosecution Service SC 14-Nov-2012
The appellant had twice begun private prosecutions only to have them taken over by the CPS and discontinued. He complained that a change in their policy on such interventions interfered with his statutory and constitutional right to bring such a . .
Cited – Seray-Wurie v The Charity Commission of England and Wales CA 3-Feb-2009
The claimant appealed against the striking out of his claim for defamation in a reort prepared by the defendants criticising his actions as chairman of a CAB. The action had been struck out on the basis of qualified privilege, and the claimant’s . .
Cited – Regina v Van Bokkum CACD 7-Mar-2000
Tuckey LJ rejected, as contrary to Galbraith, the proposition that in a case dependent on circumstantial evidence, the judge would be required to withdraw the case if some inference other than guilt could reasonably be drawn from the facts proved: . .
Cited – Regina v Edwards CACD 2004
In a case dependent on circumstantial evidence, the judge would be required to withdraw the case if some inference other than guilt could reasonably be drawn from the facts proved: he should only withdraw it if he considered it unsafe for the jury . .
Cited – Regina v Jabber CACD 2006
As to the case of Kwan Ping Bong, Moses LJ said: ‘Read literally, Lord Diplock’s dicta might be understood to be saying that an inference was only to be regarded as compelling if all juries, assumed to be composed of those who are reasonable, would . .
Cited – X Ltd, Regina v CACD 23-May-2013
The prosecutor appealed after the judge at the crown court had found no case to answer on a prosecution of the company under the 2008 Regulations. The company had sold a home security system to an elderly and vulnerable man. His family found that he . .
Cited – Lashley, Regina v CACD 8-Feb-2000
The sole evidence against an appellant was DNA found on a cigarette left at the scene of the crime. It was accepted that there would be between seven and ten males in the United Kingdom to whom this profile related. There was no other evidence . .
Cited – Regina v Ogden CACD 28-Jun-2013
The defendant had been charged for burglary on the basis, solely, of DNA evidence found on a scarf. The scarf was accidentally destroyed before the trial, and the defence had been unable to have it examined. He now appealed saying that the use of . .
Cited – Sykes v Crown Prosecution Service (Manchester) Admn 16-Oct-2013
The defendant appealed against his conviction for obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty, saying that there had been no evidence that at the time of the events, the officer was acting in the lawful execution of his duty. He . .
Cited – B v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 13-May-2010
The defendant appealed against his conviction for having shot a deer. He said that the District Judge should have ruled that he had no case to answer. He was said to have been one of three youths cruelly killing a fawn.
Held: There had been . .
Cited – Morgan v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 6-Dec-2016
Res Gestae Evidence correctly admitted
The appellant challenged by case stated the admission by magistrates at his trial of two pieces of evidence under the res gestae principle under section 118(3) of the 2003 Act. The allegation was one of domestic violence. The court had admitted the . .
Cited – Brennan v Regina CACD 21-Nov-2014
The defendant, then 22 had a history of disturbed childhood, sexual abuse and outpatient mental health treatment together with one instance when he was sectioned following a suicide attempt. On the undisputed psychiatric evidence he suffered from a . .
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 . .
Cited – Loughlin, Re Application for Judicial Review SC 18-Oct-2017
The court was asked as to the circumstances in which sentences passed on offenders who have given assistance to prosecuting authorities should be referred back to the sentencing court under section 74 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act . .
Cited – Goddard and Another v Regina CACD 27-Jul-2012
In relation to a case based on inferences, Aikens LJ summarised the principles in Galbraith on a submission of no case to answer: ‘(1) in all cases where a judge is asked to consider a submission of no case to answer, the judge should apply the . .
Cited – Regina v Metcalf, Denton, Foster 26-May-2021
Public Inquiry Not Course of Justice
(Crown Court at Manchester) A retired solicitor and two retired police officers faced trial charged with doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice. They were said to have proposed alterations to statements of police . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.183181