The judge had ruled that the evidence intended to be offered could not create offences within the 1977 Act. Verdicts of not guilty were entered. The decision was a terminating ruling. The prosecutor failed to give the appropriate section 58 undertaking on appealing.
Held: Attending to the purpose of the 2003 Act, the prosecutor’s mistake was recitified and the appeal could continue.
As to the substantial appeal, the judge had found that the tenancy or licence was an excluded one. The resident landlord having terminated the licence, the occupiers became trespassers outside the protection of the 1977 Act. However the judge had erred since the occupiers had been given a minimum term of six months which the landlord’s notice did not abridge. It could be brought to an end only for a breach of its terms.
Judges:
Sir Igor Judge P, David J, David Clarke J
Citations:
[2008] EWCA Crim 483
Links:
Statutes:
Protection from Eviction Act 1977 1(3A)(a), Criminal Justice Act 2003 58
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Practice, Housing
Updated: 16 August 2022; Ref: scu.406147