The defendant appeal against a conviction for cheating the revenue after the use of evidence obtained against him by compulsion in investigations under the Insolvency Act.
Held: The information obtained in an investigation would normally be considered confidential, but had been used to obtain warrants and to lay informations: ‘It is self-evidently in the public interest that the appropriate prosecuting authority should have such material to aid its investigation which might well be considerably hampered by any requirements to obtain court approval or to give notice to the person who had provided the material.’
Information obtained by the use of compulsory means is confidential in the sense that it may only be used for the purposes for which it was obtained. By the time of the trial, the use of such material would be unlawful and they were not admitted. The judge refused a stay on the basis that the prosecution remained an abuse of process. Disclosure by the investigators to other authorities was permitted without notifying the defendant and without his consent or the consent of another court. There was ample additional evidence to support the conviction, and the appeal was refused.
Judges:
Tuckey LJ, Douglas Brown, Hedley JJ
Citations:
Times 09-Jul-2004, [2004] 3 All E R 520, [2004] 1 WLR 3240, [2005] 1 All ER (Comm) 328, [2004] All ER (D) 234, [2005] 1 Lloyds Rep 383
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Practice
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.198722
