The appellant had been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and a confiscation order pounds 5.4m with six years in default. Small payments were made later by his receivers, but the interest had taken the total sums due over pounds 8m at the time of payments. The Court was asked say whether when calculating the credit against time spent, the sums were as against the sums originally due, or the sums at the time of payment.
Held: The claimant’s appeal was allowed. At the time, the 1994 Act applied, under which the interest was to be treated as part of the amount to be recovered. s.79(2) expressly say that the days to be deducted are to be the number which bear the same proportion to the total default term imposed (by the Crown Court) as the part payments bear ‘to so much of the said sum . . as was due at the time the period of detention was imposed’. At the time the Crown Court imposed the default term, there was as yet no interest accrued at all. The words of a penalty statute are not to be strained to achieve a prejudicial outcome.
Judges:
Lord Mance, Deputy President, Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath, Lord Hughes, Lady Black
Citations:
[2018] UKSC 2, [2018] Lloyd’s Rep FC 195, [2018] 2 All ER 478, [2018] 1 Cr App R (S) 51, [2018] 1 WLR 629, UKSC 2016/0052
Links:
Bailii, Bailii Summary, WLRD, SC, SC Summary, SC Summary Video, SC 2017 Dec 5 am Video, SC 2017 Dec 5 pm Video
Statutes:
Magistrates Courts Act 1980 79(2), Drug Trafficking Act 1994, Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing Act) 2000
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
At Admn – Gibson, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice Admn 4-Sep-2013
. .
Appeal from – Gibson, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice CA 11-Nov-2015
‘The issue in the case is whether the words ‘the said sum . . as was due at the time the period of detention was imposed’ in section 79(2) of the Magistrates’ Court Act (MCA) 1980 should be construed in the case of confiscation orders made under the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Sentencing, Magistrates
Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.603119