Mr Jackson was convicted of a drugs offence. On arrest, the police had seized money in his possession. No order as to the money was made at the trial. Mr Jackson applied under the Act. The magistrate accepted that Mr Jackson was the owner of the money, but, because he (the magistrate) considered that it was the proceeds of the sale of controlled drugs, he declined to direct that the money be returned. In the Case Stated he said that for the money to be returned to Mr Jackson would have been ‘repugnant and contrary to public policy’.
Held: Laws J dismissed Mr Jackson’s appeal. He referred to White -v- West Midlands Police. Having recorded that counsel for Mr Jackson had accepted ‘that if an applicant issues process in the Common Law Court on facts such as those of the present case, the defendant would be entitled to raise a public policy defence and the court would be entitled to give effect to it’.
Judges:
Laws J
Citations:
Unreported, 22 October 1993
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Chief Constable of West Midlands Police v White CA 13-Mar-1992
After conviction for licensing offences, the police seized a sum of money from the respondent which they alleged was the proceeds of unlicensed sales. The magistrates made no order on conviction, so the police brought the issue under the Act. The . .
Cited by:
Cited – Gough and Another v The Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police CA 2-Mar-2004
The claimants sought return of vehicle parts from the police. The police replied that the goods had been tampered with in such a way as to suggest they may have been stolen, and that they were therefore kept, even after the finish of the court . .
Cited – Merseyside Police v Owens Admn 31-May-2012
The police had refused to returns items seized from Mr Owens on the basis that to do so would indirectly encourage and assist him in suspected criminal activity. CCTV footage had been removed from him to attempt identify an arsonist of a house.The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Police, Magistrates
Updated: 25 November 2022; Ref: scu.194112