The defendant pleaded guilty to inciting a boy who might have been under 14 at the time to commit incest with the boy’s mother. On appeal it was argued that the defendant had pleaded guilty to an offence unknown to the law, since if the boy had been under 14 at the time he was conclusively presumed to be incapable of intercourse. It was however accepted that the indictment could have been framed so as to charge the defendant with inciting the mother rather than the son. The court accordingly applied the proviso ‘on the footing that the [defendant] was plainly guilty of an offence with which, on the undoubted facts, he could have been charged upon an indictment somewhat differently drawn’.
Citations:
[1995] 1 Cr App R 420
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Graham, Kansal, etc CACD 25-Oct-1996
The court discussed when it was appropriate for the Court of Appeal to substitute other lesser convictions, after the main conviction had been declared unsafe.
Held: After studying the authorities at length, the court felt that the various . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 08 October 2022; Ref: scu.183247