The defendant appealed against his conviction for possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. He had a friction locking police-style baton, handcuffs and a false police ID in the rear of his car when stooped. After first lying he said they had been used for roleplay, and that he had been on his way to dispose of them. He appealed saying that the court had been wrong to allow into evidence previous convictions for dishonesty. He also said that his car was private and so not a public place.
Held: Although the summing up could properly be criticised under R v Hanson, the conviction was not unsafe: ‘the explanation put forward by the appellant as to what he was doing when he was in possession of these items when he was stopped is incredible. In our judgment the case against the appellant was overwhelming. We are in no doubt that this conviction was safe. Accordingly, we would dismiss the ground for which leave to appeal was given.’
As to the suggestion that the car was not a public place: ‘At the time when he was stopped by the police he was in a public place, namely Hawth Avenue, Crawley. The fact that he had happened to be driving his car at the time is no more material to where he was than would have been the fact that he was walking, waiting for a bus or riding a bicycle in Hawth Avenue, Crawley. An accurate answer to the question where he was at the time he was stopped would have been ‘in Hawth Avenue’. A different question would have been: ‘What were you doing?’ The answer to that question would have been: ‘I was driving my car.’ Conversely, if he had been arrested whilst he was sitting in his car parked on the drive to his house, there would have been no answer to the assertion that he was not in a public place. But the reason why there would have been no answer is that the car was not in a public place, not that a car is not itself a public place. ‘
Judges:
Dyson LJ, Swift, Sweeney JJ
Citations:
[2010] EWCA Crim 163
Links:
Statutes:
Prevention of Crime Act 1953 1(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Hanson; Regina v Gilmore; Regina v Pickstone CACD 22-Mar-2005
In each case complaint was made about the way in which the judge had dealt with applications by the Crown to bring in the defendant’s bad character as evidence of his propensity to commit the crime.
Held: The court set out the applicable . .
Cited – Regina v Kane 1965
The court considered whether a private club was a public place. The defendants were charged with making an affray in a public place. The events had taken place in a member’s club. The practice at the club was that people were signed in without being . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 04 February 2022; Ref: scu.401848