A confiscation order was to be made. The judge included the purchase price of the drugs forfeited.
Held: As the drugs had been forfeited they were no longer the property of the former owner. So he was in no position to realise that property as an asset.
Lord Bingham CJ said: ‘But even if the drugs had still been held by the defendant within the meaning of section 62(5)(a) of the 1994 Act – and this could well be the position where it was the police and not the Customs and Excise who seized the drugs – so that the property would on its face be realisable property within the meaning of section 6(2)(a) of the 1994 Act, the drugs would still be without value as realisable property. That is because, by virtue of section 7(1) of the 1994 Act to which we have already made reference, the value of the property is to be taken as its market value and the market value must be the market value if the property is sold lawfully. In the case of drugs, it is obvious that the drugs cannot be sold lawfully and therefore they have no market value.’
Judges:
Lord Bingham CJ
Citations:
[1997] Crim LR 299, [1996] EWCA Crim 1802, [1997] 2 Cr App R(S) 152
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Approved – Regina v Thacker 1994
The question arose as to whether drugs which had been seized by Customs could be described as property held by the defendant.
Held: Lord Bingham CJ said: ‘It appears that seizure by the Customs and Excise under the Customs and Excise . .
Cited by:
Cited – Islam, Regina v HL 10-Jun-2009
The defendant appealed against a confiscation order saying that it should not have been set at values which reflected the black market value of the drugs he had imported.
Held: The appeal failed. The court could take account of the illegal . .
Cited – Hussain, Regina v CACD 28-Feb-2006
The ‘benefit’ which the defendant had obtained from the illegal drugs imported by the defendant was nil because that which could not lawfully be bought and sold had no market value. . .
Cited – Islam, Regina v HL 10-Jun-2009
The defendant appealed against a confiscation order saying that it should not have been set at values which reflected the black market value of the drugs he had imported.
Held: The appeal failed. The court could take account of the illegal . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 02 May 2022; Ref: scu.346847