The defendant against appealed his conviction for kidnapping. He had fraudulently taken control of his victims’ lives and fleeced them. He was said to have kidnapped them, originally by persuading them to get into his car and then driving off. He had variously pretended to work for MI5 and others. The prosecution said that kidnapping did not necessarily require a false imprisonment.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The Crown had failed to show as required that the complainant had been deprived of her liberty. The cases of Wellard and Cort appeared to be in conflict, but Cort should be seen as an unjustified departure from established principle.
Judges:
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers LCJ, Burton J, Stanley Burnton J
Citations:
Times 30-May-2007
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Cort CACD 7-Jul-2003
The defendant appealed a conviction for kidnapping, saying the victims’ absence of consent was not fundamental. Driving his car, he had stopped at bus stops, inviting women to get in saying falsely that the bus had been cancelled. He had with him . .
Cited – Regina v Wellard CACD 1978
The defendant had induced a girl to accompany him about 100 yards to his car and to get into the back of it, by pretending to be a police officer searching for drugs and saying that he would escort her to her home. Before he could drive away, her . .
Cited – Regina v D HL 1984
D was convicted for kidnapping his 5-year old daughter, a ward of court, who was in the care and control of her mother. The CA held that there was no such offence as the kidnapping of a child under 14, that it could not be committed by a parent, and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 01 May 2022; Ref: scu.253653