A private prosecution was allowed after the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute in the case of the deaths in the sinking of the Bowbelle Marchioness. Lloyd LJ discussed what would amount to abuse of process: ‘Manipulation or misuse of the prosecution process
I do not doubt Mr Glogg wanted a full scale public inquiry instead of the limited investigation carried out in private by the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau under the new procedure introduced by section 33 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 and the Merchant Shipping (Accident Investigation) Regulations 1989 (S.I 1989 No 1172).
Those regulations came into force only a fortnight before the casualty. No doubt the members of the so-called Marchioness Action Group who have lost relatives in the disaster also wanted a public inquiry. I can well understand their anxiety, frustration and sense of grievance when a public inquiry was not announced. I should add that Mr Glogg was not himself a member of the Marchioness Action Group but he is represented by the same firm of solicitors.
Does it then follow from Mr Glogg’s desire for a public inquiry that he had some indirect or improper motive in launching the prosecution? I do not think it does. At the start, Mr Glogg’s state of mind may well have been that he wanted both a public inquiry and a prosecution for manslaughter. The fact that a public inquiry has been ruled out does not mean that his motive in instituting the prosecution should now be regarded as improper. If there is evidence that a defendant has been guilty of an offence, then a desire to see him prosecuted and, if found guilty, punished, is not an improper motive, especially where the prosecutor is one of the bereaved. Even if Mr Glogg’s motives were mixed, the court should be slow to halt a prosecution unless the conduct of the prosecution is truly oppressive.’
Judges:
Lloyd LJ
Citations:
Gazette 18-Nov-1992, [1993] 96 Cr App R 405
Statutes:
Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 3(2)(a) 3(2)(c) 3(2)(d)
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Bow Street Magistrates ex parte Kazuhiro Sakashita and Takumi Hashimoto Admn 15-Oct-1996
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Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.86162
