Tag: Crime

Oraki v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 17 Jan 2018

The court was asked whether the defence of self defence was available on a charge of obstructing a police officer.
Held: ‘The defence of self-defence or defence of another person is, as a matter of law, available in relation to the offence of obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty under s.89(2) of the Police Act 1996. Since, in the circumstances of the present case the Crown Court was of the view that if that defence had been available as a matter of law, it would have succeeded on the facts. I would allow this appeal, and quash the conviction in this case.’

Citations:

[2018] EWHC 115 (Admin), [2018] 2 WLR 1725

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Police Act 1996

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 23 April 2022; Ref: scu.618095

Sami v, Regina: CACD 23 Mar 2018

Appeal from conviction for conspiracy to import diamorphine.
Held: The appeal agaist conviction failed, but the sentence was reduced to 14 years.

Judges:

Thirlwall LJ, SirNicholas Blake, Williams HHJ

Citations:

[2018] EWCA Crim 552, [2018] WLR(D) 198

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 170

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 13 April 2022; Ref: scu.608706

El Gazzaz v The Secretary of State for The Home Department: CACD 21 Mar 2018

Appeal in an immigration case concerning the proposed deportation of the appellant, a national of Egypt, who fell within the definition of a foreign criminal for the purposes of the immigration regime.

Judges:

Lewison, Sales LJJ

Citations:

[2018] EWCA Civ 532

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 13 April 2022; Ref: scu.608696

Regina v Governor of Brixton Prison, Ex parte Sjoland and Metzler: CA 1912

The defendant was found guilty of cheating when winning a three card trick by the use of ‘sleight of hand’

Citations:

[1912] 3 KB 568

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Ivey v Genting Casinos (UK) Ltd (T/A Crockfords) SC 25-Oct-2017
The claimant gambler sought payment of his winnings. The casino said that he had operated a system called edge-sorting to achieve the winnings, and that this was a form of cheating so as to excuse their payment. The system exploited tiny variances . .
Cited – Ivey v Genting Casinos UK Ltd (T/A Crockfords Club) CA 4-Nov-2016
The claimant sought recovery of his substantial winnings from the defendant gaming club. The club had resisted saying that the methods used by the claimant at cards, called, ‘edge sorting’ was a form of cheating, a criminal offence within the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 13 April 2022; Ref: scu.597672

Rudd v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: 1985

The court considered the word ‘used’ in the context of a TV Licensing prosecution.
Held: The word ‘use’ is to be interpreted in its natural and ordinary meaning.

Citations:

[1987] 1 WLR 786, [1987] 2 All ER 553, (1987) 85 Cr App R 358

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Blake CACD 31-Jul-1996
The offence of establishing a radio station without a licence is an absolute offence; no knowledge or mens rea was needed. The presumption that mens rea was required could be rebutted where the offence concerned an issue of public safety. . .
Cited – Floe Telecom (In Administration) v Office ofCommunications; Vodafone Ltd v T-Mobile (UK) Ltd CAT 19-Nov-2004
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Licensing, Crime

Updated: 13 April 2022; Ref: scu.572623

Baxter v Woodyard: 1606

The courts awarded compensation for cheating in a game of cards where a person used a device to cause loss to the plaintiff, in this case a false card, called a ‘bumcard’

Citations:

72 English Reports 899, (1606) Moo KB 776

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Ivey v Genting Casinos UK Ltd (T/A Crockfords Club) CA 4-Nov-2016
The claimant sought recovery of his substantial winnings from the defendant gaming club. The club had resisted saying that the methods used by the claimant at cards, called, ‘edge sorting’ was a form of cheating, a criminal offence within the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 13 April 2022; Ref: scu.571236

Regina v McDonnell: 1966

Bristol Assizes – the defendant was indicted, inter alia, with two counts of conspiring with a company. Each count concerning a separate company. The defendant was the ‘sole person in either of the companies . . responsible for any of the acts of the company and no one else had any authority to act for the company or any responsibility for the acts of the company.’
Held: Nield J said that ‘a company and a director cannot be convicted of conspiracy when the only human being who is said to have broken the law or intended to do so is the one director’

Judges:

Nield J

Citations:

[1966] 1 QB 233, (1966) 50 Cr App R 5

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – A Ltd and Othersi, Regina v CACD 28-Jul-2016
The Serious Fraud Office appealed against rulings on the admission of evidence after its exclusion under section 78.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The appeal had been brought within time and could proceed. Police and Criminal Evidence Act . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Company, Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.570727

Rex v Moore: 1914

The court considered the offence of cheating

Citations:

[1914] 10 Cr App R 54

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Ivey v Genting Casinos UK Ltd (T/A Crockfords Club) CA 4-Nov-2016
The claimant sought recovery of his substantial winnings from the defendant gaming club. The club had resisted saying that the methods used by the claimant at cards, called, ‘edge sorting’ was a form of cheating, a criminal offence within the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.571235

Director of Public Prosecutions v Kent and Sussex Contractors Ltd: 1945

The court considered the liability of a company under provisions being, ‘with intent to deceive, made use . . of a document which was false in a material particular’
Held: The General Manager was capable of acting or speaking as the company;

Judges:

Lord Caldecote

Citations:

[1944] KB 146, [1944] 1 All ER 119

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Jetivia Sa and Another v Bilta (UK) Ltd and Others SC 22-Apr-2015
The liquidators of Bilta had brought proceedings against former directors and the appellant alleging that they were party to an unlawful means conspiracy which had damaged the company by engaging in a carousel fraud with carbon credits. On the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Company, Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.565997

Regina v Cey: 1989

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal – The defendant was accused of assault committed during the course of a game of ice hockey.
Held: (Majority) The game was very physical, but even so: ‘some forms of bodily contact carry with them such a high risk of injury and such a distinct probability of serious harm as to be beyond what, in fact, the players commonly consent to, or what, in law, they are capable of consenting to.’ (Gerwing JA)
Objective criteria are to be used to determine whether the consent defence can applym, including:
(a) the conditions in which the game was played;
(b) the nature and circumstances of the act;
(c) how much force was used;
(d) the victim’s injury, and
(e) the state of mind of the accused.

Judges:

Gerwing JA, Cameron JA

Citations:

(1989) 48 CCC (3d) 480

Jurisdiction:

Canada

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Barnes CACD 21-Dec-2004
The defendant appealed against a conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm, after causing a serious leg injury in a football match when tackling another player.
Held: There was surprisingly little authority on when it was appropriate to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.566847

Regina v Sutcliffe (Peter): CACD 24 May 1982

The defendant appealed against his conviction for 13 murders and 7 attempted murders saying that his plea of diminished responsibility should not have been rejected.
Held: The appeal failed. Lord Lane CJ said: ‘The psychiatrists all substantially agreed that in a case such as this, the diagnosis was necessarily based very largely, if not entirely, upon what the accused man had told them. Again there was a general consensus of opinion between the medical men that if the accused man really believed that what he was telling the doctors was true, namely that he was on a divinely inspired mission to kill prostitutes, then the diagnoses would be correct. There was also a consensus that if on the other hand what this man told them upon the more important features of the case was to his knowledge false and was a deliberate lie, then their diagnosis in its turn would be falsified.’ and ‘The matter was thrashed out at great length before the jury and the jury came to the conclusion that . . this man was probably not telling the truth to the doctors and accordingly their diagnosis was falsified, through no fault of theirs.’

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ

Citations:

Unreported, 24 May 1982

Cited by:

Original Appeal – Coonan (Formerly Sutcliffe), Regina v CACD 14-Jan-2011
The claimant, formerly known as Peter Sutcliffe, had been convicted in 1981 for thirteen murders and 7 attempted murders. His plea of diminished responsibility was rejected. The judge had recommended a minimum term of 30 years for the life sentence, . .
Original Appeal – Regina v Coonan (Formerly Sutcliffe) QBD 16-Jul-2010
The respondent had been convicted of thirteen murders and eight attempted murders. He had claimed to have been acting in response to a divine voice heard when he worked in a graveyard. He was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic. The murders had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.430459

Regina v Speck: CACD 1977

The court considered that the offence of inciting a child to commit an indecent act can be committed simply by inactivity in not preventing the child from committing the indecent act, thereby encouraging it.

Citations:

[1977] 2 All ER 859

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.416059

Regina v Hamid and Hamid: CACD 1979

Citations:

[1979] 69 CAR 324

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Cooper CACD 5-May-2010
The defendant appealed his conviction for perjury. On being accused of using a mobile phone when driving, he claimed to have been using a hands free system. Evidence later showed that his kit had been fitted only after the date of the alleged . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.409988

Regina v John Eagleton (No 2): 1854

The defendant contracted in writing with the guardians of a parish to supply and deliver for a certain term to the out-door poor, at such times as the guardians should direct, loaves of bread of three and a half pounds weight each. The guardians were, during thesaid term, to pay the defendant after certain rates and prices for the bread so supplied, and of which a bill of particulars should have been sent. The contract contained a provision that in case the defendant broke the terms of his contract in any of the ways therein named, one of which was by a deficiency in the weight stated and charged for in the said bill of particulars, the guardians might employ other persons to supply the bread, and charge the defendant with the costs of such supply above the price contracted for, and might retain any moneys due to te defendant under the contract at the time of such breach towards such costs, or the damages which the board might sustain, and might also put in suit against the defendant a bond which he then executed, and which was conditioned for the due performance of is contract. The indictment contained ten counts, the first seven of which were in substance the same, and charged the defendant with a common law misdemeanour , in supplyimg and delivering, as such contracor, loaves of bread to different poor persons which loaves were deficient in weight, intending to injure and defraud such poor persons and to deprive them of proper and sufficient food and sustenance, and to endanger their healths and constitutions, and to cheat and defraud the said guardians.

Citations:

[1854] EngR 35, (1854-55) Dears 515, (1854) 169 ER 826

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

see Also – Regina v John Eagleton (No 1) 1854
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Contract

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.292892

Regina v John Eagleton (No 1): 1854

Citations:

[1854] EngR 34, (1854) Dears 376, (1854) 169 ER 766

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

see Also – Regina v John Eagleton (No 2) 1854
The defendant contracted in writing with the guardians of a parish to supply and deliver for a certain term to the out-door poor, at such times as the guardians should direct, loaves of bread of three and a half pounds weight each. The guardians . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Gulliver (orse Gullefer / Gullerfer) CACD 1990
The defendant appealed against his conviction of the attempted theft of his stake from a bookmaker at a greyhound racetrack. The dog which the appellant had backed was not doing well. During the race the appellant climbed on to a fence in front of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Contract

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.292891

Ludlow and Others v Burgess: 1972

A police officer has no more right to lay hands on someone than any other member of the community. The person so restrained is entitled to use reasonable force to free himself.

Judges:

Parker LCJ

Citations:

(1972) 75 Cr App R 227

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Wood v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 14-May-2008
The defendant challenged his conviction for obstructing a police officer and threatening behaviour. The officer had taken hold of him to restrain him, not intending to arrest him, but only to establish whether he was a person they were looking for. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.272770

Attorney General Reference Nos 74 and 83 0f 2007 (Foster and Fenn): CACD 12 Oct 2007

The defendants each appealed convictions for rape of a girl under 13.
Held: A child under thirteen was incapable of giving any consent to a sexual activity. The defendant’s genuine but mistaken belief in the victim’s age may be relevant to sentencing but was not as regards commission of the offence.

Judges:

Latham LJ, Stanley Burnton LJ, Pitchford J

Citations:

Times 16-Nov-2007

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.261441

Regina v Brown: CMAC 19 Jul 2007

The defendant appealed his convicion for failiing to obey an order to return, after also being accused of being absent without leave from his duties.
Held: The fact of being absent without leave did not excuse a failure to obey a lawful order.

Judges:

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, LCJ, David J, Simon J

Citations:

Times 23-Oct-2007

Statutes:

Naval Discipline Act 1957 17(1)(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Armed Forces, Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.261442

Hughes v Holley: 1988

Lord Justice Glidewell said that behaviour contra bonos mores meant ‘conduct which has the property of being wrong rather than right in the judgment of the majority of contemporary fellow citizens.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Glidewell

Citations:

[1988] 86 CAR 130

Cited by:

Cited – Hashman and Harrup v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Nov-1999
The defendants had been required to enter into a recognisance to be of good behaviour after disrupting a hunt by blowing of a hunting horn. They were found to have unlawfully caused danger to the dogs. Though there had been no breach of the peace, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.261939

HM Advocate v Paxton: HCJ 1984

Citations:

1984 JC 105

Jurisdiction:

Scotland

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v R HL 23-Oct-1991
H has no right to sexual intercourse with W – rape
The defendant appealed against his conviction for having raped his wife, saying that intercourse with his wife was necessarily lawful, and therefore outside the statutory definition of rape. Due to the matrimonial difficulties, the wife had left . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.194936

Dymond v Pearce: CA 13 Jan 1972

A motorcyclist crashed into the rear of a lorry stationary on the carriageway. The plaintff said that the parking of the lorry was a nuisance, and that if it had not been so parked, there would have been no accident.
Held: The appeal failed. The accident was due wholly to the negligence of the motorcyclist. ‘sine qua non is not an all-sufficient basis for establishing liability.’ In criminal law at least nuisance must be actual as opposed to potential.

Judges:

Sachs LJ, Edmund Davies LJ, Stephenson LJ

Citations:

[1972] 1 All ER 1142, [1972] EWCA Civ 7, [1972] 2 WLR 633, [1972] 1 QB 496, [1972] RTR 169

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Morton v Wheeler CA 31-Jan-1956
Sharp spikes by the side of a highway were said to be a nuisance. Lord Denning MR said: ‘As all lawyers know, the tort of public nuisance is a curious mixture. It covers a multitude of sins. We are concerned to-day with only one of them, namely, a . .
Cited – Maitland v Raisbeck CA 1944
Lord Greene MR said: ‘Every person . . has a right to use the highway and, if something happens to him which in fact causes an obstruction to the highway but is in no way referable to his fault, it is quite impossible, in my view, to say that ipso . .
Cited – Farrel v Mowlem 1954
The defendant had without justification laid a pipe across a pavement and the plaintiff tripped over it and was injured.
Held: The defendant was liable in nuisance. Devlin J said, as to the pipe: ‘No doubt it is a comparatively harmless sort . .
Cited – Read v J Lyons and Co Ltd HL 1946
The plaintiff was employed by the Ministry of Defence, inspecting a weapons factory. A shell exploded injuring her. No negligence was alleged. The company worked as agent for the ministry.
Held: The respondents were not liable, since there had . .
Cited – Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Miller Steamship Co Pty (The Wagon Mound) (No 2) PC 25-May-1966
(New South Wales) When considering the need to take steps to avoid injury, the court looked to the nature of defendant’s activity. There was no social value or cost saving in this defendant’s activity. ‘In the present case there was no justification . .
Cited – Parish v Judd 1960
A lorry and a car it was towing stopped, obstructing the highway. The plaintiff crashed into them, and claimed that they constituted a nuisance. The vehicles had only just stopped, and the driver was checking that all was well with the car. The . .
Cited – Trevetts v Lee CA 1955
Lord Evershed MR said: ‘The law as regards obstruction to highways is conveniently stated in a passage in Salmond on Torts, 13th edition: ‘A nuisance to a highway consists either in obstructing it or in rendering it dangerous’. Then a numbed of . .
Cited – Morton v Weaver CA 31-Jan-1956
The court distinguished between obstructions of a highway and dangers created on it. Lord Denning MR asked: ‘How are we to determine whether a state of affairs in or near a highway is a danger?’ and answered ‘This depends, I think, on whether injury . .

Cited by:

Cited – Rouse v Squires CA 22-Mar-1973
. .
Cited – Houghton v Stannard QBD 29-Oct-2003
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Road Traffic, Nuisance

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.188834

Yearly v Crown Prosecution Service: Admn 21 Mar 1997

Having closed their case, the prosecution applied for and were granted opportunity to adduce evidence in the form of certificates under section 69.
Held: The court had a discretion to allow further evidence. The magistrates had correctly considered the applicable law, and applied the discretion given to them properly.

Citations:

[1997] EWHC Admin 308

Statutes:

Computer Misuse Act 1990 1(1), Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 69

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Shephard HL 16-Dec-1992
The defendant had been convicted of theft from a supermarket. The evidence was that the till rolls did not include the goods the subject of the charge. She argued that it should not have been admitted as evidence, without supporting evidence that . .
Cited – Regina v Francis CACD 1990
The prosecution had omitted to bring evidence that the person standing at No.20 on an identification parade was the appellant. The defence complained that the prosecutor had been allowed to re-open his case.
Held: ‘The discretion of the judge . .
Cited – Regina v Vincent Munnery CACD 1992
On a charge of burglary, the prosecution had not brought evidence that the appellant was one of those who carried cartons out of Liberty’s department store. The court allowed the prosecutor to re-open his case to present that evidence.
Held: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Magistrates

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.137253

Regina v Tagg: CACD 14 Jun 2001

The idea of what was ‘drunkenness’ was sufficiently clear, and not capable of being challenged under the Human Rights Act. The order which made it a criminal offence to be drunk on board an aircraft were not ultra vires, since the Act gave power to regulate for safety and that was the intention of the order.

Citations:

Times 14-Jun-2001

Statutes:

Air Navigation (No 2) Order 1995 (1995 No 1970), Civil Aviation Act 1982

Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88686

Regina v Smethurst: CACD 13 Apr 2001

As regards the offence of making indecent photographs of children, any intention of the defendant was irrelevant as to whether the photographs themselves were indecent. The defendant said he had obtained the images without any indecent intent, but only because they had a high photographic quality. The situation was different from that which obtained on a question of indecent assault. The jury’s conclusion that the images were indecent and of children under 16 was all that was required. Indecency was a subjective assessment. Once the photographs came into existence the harm might already be done. Article 10.2 covered this case, the offence was sufficiently certain, and the Act was compliant.

Citations:

Times 13-Apr-2001, [2002] 1 Cr App R 50

Statutes:

Protection of Children Act 1978 1(1)(a), European Convention on Human Rights 10.2

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Collier CACD 11-Jun-2004
The defendant appealed a conviction of possession of indecent pseudo-photographs of children. He said that he had not seen the image, and that though he had reason to know the images were indecent, he had no reason to know that they were of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88669

Regina v Calum I MacLeod: CACD 29 Nov 2000

The defendant had approached a prosecution witness after she had completed her evidence, but before she left, and challenged her on the basis that she had been lying. On the following day the judge considered whether his behaviour was a contempt of court, and having found it proved, and sentenced him. In this case, and the judge was not himself a witness to what had happened, and it was appropriate for him to act as an independent tribunal, and it was also necessary to act quickly and decisively. The Article 6 right to a fair trial did not add, in these circumstances, to the requirements which already applied to an English courts. The judge should, however, have requested prosecuting counsel to lead the witness through her evidence.

Citations:

Times 20-Dec-2000

Human Rights, Criminal Practice, Contempt of Court, Crime

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88549

Regina v Panton: CACD 27 Mar 2001

In the supply of drugs, rather than possession, the defendant asserted that his consent to acting to take care of the drugs, was given only under duress. Consent was not required of both parties. Supply was to be given its ordinary meaning, and according to the context. Beyond mere transfer was required only that the recipient was in a position to make use of it. An intention to return the drugs to the person who had passed them to him was still an intention to supply.

Citations:

Times 27-Mar-2001, Gazette 11-May-2001

Statutes:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 5(3)

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Maginnis HL 5-Mar-1987
M was stopped by the police. They found cannabis in his car. He said he was looking after it for a friend. He was accused of intending to supply it.
Held: ‘The word ‘supply’ in its ordinary natural meaning conveys the idea of furnishing or . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88582

Regina v Brock; Regina v Wyner: CACD 22 Feb 2001

The offence of knowingly permitting premises to be used for the supply of controlled drugs was proved by establishing actual knowledge of drug dealing, or willful blindness as to such activities on the premises, and an unwillingness to prevent it. Unwillingness could be established by showing that the defendants had failed to take reasonable and readily available steps to prevent the dealing in drugs.

Citations:

Gazette 22-Feb-2001

Statutes:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

Crime

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88392

Regina v Powell, Regina v Daniel: CACD 2 Jun 1995

A secondary party to a murder need only know of first party’s violent intentions to be guilty.

Citations:

Times 02-Jun-1995, Ind Summary 26-Jun-1995

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v Powell (Anthony) and Another; Regina v English HL 30-Oct-1997
When the court looked at the issue of foreseeability of murder in an allegation of joint enterprise, there was no requirement to show intent by the secondary party. The forseeability of the risk of the principal committing the offence from the point . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.87562

Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions, Ex Parte C: QBD 7 Mar 1994

The doli incapax assumption that a child does not have a guilty mind, is no longer an appropriate presumption for a 12 year old youth. A prosecutor must act in accordance with the guidelines issued pursuant to the Act.

Citations:

Gazette 07-Sep-1994, Times 07-Mar-1994

Statutes:

Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 10

Cited by:

See Also – C (A Minor) v Director of Public Prosecutions QBD 30-Mar-1994
The 12 year old defendant held the handlebars of a motorcycle allowing a second boy to try to remove the chain and padlock securing it. He appealed against his conviction.
Held: The presumption of doli incapax for a 10-14 year old child is no . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Children, Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.86549

Regina v Keyes and Others: CACD 10 Mar 2000

It was not necessary for the Commissioners themselves to authorise by order proceedings for conspiracy to commit a non-summary customs and excise offence, namely to evade the prohibition on importation of a controlled drug. The Criminal Law Act could not be used to reinstate that requirement because just they had not been charged with the substantive offence. The statutory provisions of the Acts, when read together, suggested that such consent would not be required.

Judges:

Pill LJ, Crane J, Sir Charles McCullough

Citations:

Times 05-Apr-2000, Gazette 06-Apr-2000, (2000) Crim LR 571, (2000) 2 CAR 181

Statutes:

Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 170(2)(b) 145(1) 145(6), Criminal Law Act 1977 4(3)

Citing:

Applied – Regina v Whitehead CACD 1982
An order for consent by the Commissioners to allow proceedings was not required where the accused person had already been detained for an offence under the Custom and Excise Acts. Detention for conspiracy to evade the prohibition imposed by the 1971 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Customs and Excise

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85347

Regina v Lambert; Regina v Ali; Regina v Jordan: CACD 14 Sep 2000

Each defendant was charged under a statute which provided a defence if they could prove a certain element. They complained that this was a breach of their human rights. The complaint was rejected. It would be wrong to impose a burden of proof on a defendant as regards a main element of a crime, but this may be permissible, where the burden lay on the defendant to establish some element of a special defence or exception. The courts should defer to the intention of Parliament. Such provisions could be justified objectively by reference to the particular nature of the offence. Woolf LCJ said: ‘it is important to start with the structure of the offences. If the defendant is being required to prove an essential element of the offence this will be more difficult to justify. If, however, what the defendant is required to do is establish a special defence or exception this will be less objectionable. The extent of the inroad on the general principle is also important. Here it is important to have in mind that article 6(2) is specifically directed to the application of the presumption of innocence of the ‘criminal offence’ charged. It is also important to have in mind that legislation is passed by a democratically elected Parliament and therefore the courts under the Convention are entitled to and should, as a matter of constitutional principle, pay a degree of deference to the view of Parliament as to what is in the interest of the public generally when upholding the rights of the individual under the Convention. The courts are required to balance the competing interests involved.’

Judges:

Lord Woolf CJ

Citations:

Gazette 14-Sep-2000, [2001] 2 WLR 211

Statutes:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Homicide Act 1957, Human Rights Act 1998

Citing:

Appealed to – Regina v Lambert HL 5-Jul-2001
Restraint on Interference with Burden of Proof
The defendant had been convicted for possessing drugs found on him in a bag when he was arrested. He denied knowing of them. He was convicted having failed to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that he had not known of the drugs. The case was . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v Lambert HL 5-Jul-2001
Restraint on Interference with Burden of Proof
The defendant had been convicted for possessing drugs found on him in a bag when he was arrested. He denied knowing of them. He was convicted having failed to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that he had not known of the drugs. The case was . .
Cited – Lynch v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 8-Nov-2001
The defendant challenged a conviction for having a locked bladed article in his possession in a public place, on the basis that it placed on him a burden of proof contrary to the convention.
Held: Salabiaku permits a reverse onus but requires . .
Cited – Sheldrake v Director of Public Prosecutions; Attorney General’s Reference No 4 of 2002 HL 14-Oct-2004
Appeals were brought complaining as to the apparent reversal of the burden of proof in road traffic cases and in cases under the Terrorism Acts. Was a legal or an evidential burden placed on a defendant?
Held: Lord Bingham of Cornhill said: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85353

Regina v Lee: CACD 24 Oct 2000

It was not a requirement on a charge of assault with intent to resist arrest, to establish that the defendant’s believed that the arrest was unlawful. The mens rea required to be established was that the defendant knew he was being arrested. A belief that the arrest was unlawful did not justify resisting the arrest.

Citations:

Times 24-Oct-2000

Statutes:

Offences against the Person Act 1861 38

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85355

Regina v Nelson: CACD 2 Mar 2000

Having been arrested for theft, and found in possession of an imitation firearm, but later being acquitted of theft, the defendant argued he could not be convicted of possessing the firearm if no specified offence was committed.
Held: The words of the Act are clear, and required either the commission of an offence or possession at the time of an arrest for such an offence. In recent years such offences have been taken much more seriously, and earlier cases should not be followed.

Citations:

Gazette 02-Mar-2000, Times 07-Mar-2000

Statutes:

Firearms Act 1968 17(2)

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85421

Regina v K: CACD 7 Nov 2000

When the defendant faced a charge of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16, the prosecution did not face a burden of proving that he had no honest belief that she was 16 or over. The Act intended to produce the effect that no mens rea in this respect was required. A girl of that age could not give any valid consent. If parliament had intended that genuine belief would be a defence under the section, then the latter parts of the section would have been otiose. It was clear by necessary implication, that the defence was not to be available.

Citations:

Times 07-Nov-2000, Gazette 16-Nov-2000

Statutes:

Sexual Offences Act 1956 14

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v K CACD 11-Dec-2002
While a girl under the age of 16 cannot in law consent to an indecent assault, it is a defence if the defendant honestly believed she was over 16. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85336

Regina v Forbes (Giles): CACD 4 Apr 2000

A person who set out to import pornographic videos, and received packages which hid their true content, was guilty of importing the content, as indecent photographs of children, even if that had not been what was expected. If he knows he is evading a prohibition against importation, he is responsible for what is imported.

Citations:

Times 04-Apr-2000, Gazette 05-May-2000

Statutes:

Customs Consolidation Act 1876, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979

Customs and Excise, Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85261

Regina v Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel Ex Parte B: QBD 27 Jul 2000

The applicant claimed an award for physical and mental symptoms suffered after being the victim of a consensual buggery whilst under the age of consent. For a child of twelve or thirteen, and such act would inevitably lead to such damages. The apparent consent must be disregarded, and the act was a crime of violence.

Citations:

Gazette 27-Jul-2000, Times 01-Aug-2000

Personal Injury, Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85206

Regina v Attorney-General, ex Parte Rockall: QBD 19 Jul 1999

The presumption of corruption which arose by virtue of the statute under the 1916 Act did not apply on a charge of conspiracy to corrupt under the earlier Act. The charge of conspiracy was a charge on its own under the Criminal Law Act and was not affected by the presumption, and was not accordingly there was no risk of any breach of the Convention on Human Rights.

Citations:

Times 19-Jul-1999

Statutes:

Prevention of Corruption Act 1916 2, Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, Criminal Law Act 1977 1(1)

Crime, Local Government

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85119

Percy v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 13 Dec 1994

A woman protester repeatedly climbed over the perimeter fencing into a military base.
Held: The defendant had a choice between agreeing to be bound over and going to prison. Her refusal to agree to be bound over had an immediate and obvious penal consequence without any intervening stage. The threat of imprisonment was no doubt intended to be coercive but it was also punitive. The bind over order was quashed because there was no sensible likelihood that trained security personnel would be provoked by her conduct to violence. An admission of actual violence or of the threat of violence was needed before the binding over power became available to the Magistrates: ‘The conduct in question does not itself have to be disorderly or a breach of the criminal law. It is sufficient if its natural consequence would, if persisted in, be to provoke others to violence, and so some actual danger to the peace is established.’

Judges:

Collins J

Citations:

Gazette 01-Mar-1995, Times 13-Dec-1994, [1995] 3 All ER 124, [1995] 1 WLR 1382

Statutes:

Magistrates Courts Act 1980 115, Justice of the Peace Act

Citing:

See Also – Bugg v Director of Public Prosecutions; Director of Public Prosecutions v Percy QBD 1993
The defendants appealed against convictions for having entered military bases contrary to various bye-laws. They challenged the validity of the bye-laws.
Held: The validity of a bye-law could be challenged in criminal proceedings, but where . .
Followed – Regina v Howell (Errol) CACD 1981
The court considered the meaning of the legal concept of a breach of the peace.
Held: The essence is to be found in violence or threatened violence. ‘We entertain no doubt that a constable has a power of arrest where there is reasonable . .

Cited by:

Cited – Redmond-Bate v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 23-Jul-1999
The police had arrested three peaceful but vociferous preachers when some members of a crowd gathered round them threatened hostility.
Held: Freedom of speech means nothing unless it includes the freedom to be irritating, contentious, . .
See Also – Bugg v Director of Public Prosecutions; Director of Public Prosecutions v Percy QBD 1993
The defendants appealed against convictions for having entered military bases contrary to various bye-laws. They challenged the validity of the bye-laws.
Held: The validity of a bye-law could be challenged in criminal proceedings, but where . .
Cited – Clingham (formerly C (a minor)) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Regina v Crown Court at Manchester Ex parte McCann and Others HL 17-Oct-2002
The applicants had been made subject of anti-social behaviour orders. They challenged the basis upon which the orders had been made.
Held: The orders had no identifiable consequences which would make the process a criminal one. Civil standards . .
Cited – Clingham (formerly C (a minor)) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Regina v Crown Court at Manchester Ex parte McCann and Others HL 17-Oct-2002
The applicants had been made subject of anti-social behaviour orders. They challenged the basis upon which the orders had been made.
Held: The orders had no identifiable consequences which would make the process a criminal one. Civil standards . .
Cited – Hashman and Harrup v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Nov-1999
The defendants had been required to enter into a recognisance to be of good behaviour after disrupting a hunt by blowing of a hunting horn. They were found to have unlawfully caused danger to the dogs. Though there had been no breach of the peace, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.84669

Osinuga v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 26 Nov 1997

False information which was provided in a Housing Benefit application form would be used in accounting and constitutes false accounting.

Citations:

Times 26-Nov-1997, 162 JP 120, 30 HLR 853, [1998] Crim LR 216

Statutes:

Theft Act 1968 817

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Lancaster CACD 2-Mar-2010
Whether Ommission Significant on Benefits Claim
The defendant appealed against his conviction for false accounting. He had been claiming council tax benefit and housing benefit, but had failed to notify the council of a change in his circumstances.
Held: The appeal failed. The court . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.84479

Norweb Plc v Dixon: QBD 24 Feb 1995

Electric supply was not made under a contract properly so called, and no offence was committed of harassment for payment. If there is a statutory obligation to enter into a form of agreement the terms of which are laid down, at any rate in their most important respects, there is no contract

Citations:

Times 24-Feb-1995, [1995] 1 WLR 636

Statutes:

Administration of Justice Act 1970 40(1)

Cited by:

Cited – Rowlands v City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council CA 26-Mar-1999
The defendant appealed a finding of the EAT that the claimant had standing to claim discrimination under the Act in the way her application to be a foster mother had been treated.
Held: After the EAT decision in W v Essex, it was clear that . .
Cited – W 1-6 v Essex County Council and Another CA 2-Apr-1998
A Local Authority had a duty of care to a fostering family when allocating children. A child was known to have a history of sexual abuse and was fostered with a family with other children, and no warning had been given.
Foster parents sued the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Contract, Utilities

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.84362

Nicol and Another v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 22 Nov 1995

The defendant’s behaviour complained of must be at least unreasonable if not unlawful to found a binding over for breach of the peace. Simon Brown LJ said: ‘the court would surely not find a s.115 complaint proved if any violence likely to have been provoked on the part of others would be not merely unlawful but wholly unreasonable — as, of course, it would be if the defendant’s conduct was not merely lawful but such as in no material way interfered with the other’s rights.’

Judges:

Simon Brown LJ

Citations:

Times 22-Nov-1995, [1995] 160 JP 155

Statutes:

Magistrates Courts Act 1980 115

Cited by:

Cited – Hammond v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 13-Jan-2004
The defendant, who had since died, had been convicted of a public order offence in that standing in a street he had displayed a range of placards opposing homosexuality. He appealed saying that the finding was an unwarranted infringement of his . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.84301

Mayne and Another v Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: QBD 3 Aug 2000

The defendants exported beef without the requisite certificates. The UK rules had been made before a Directive came into effect. On appeal after conviction the defendant argued that the rules purported to take account of future amendments. It was held that for a criminal sanction to be applicable, Regulations could not give effect to directives made by a third party without appropriate and explicit incorporation of those amendments. A regulation imposing sanctions for failure to comply with an EC Directive is not to be read as applying to future amendments to the Directive unless the wording of the regulations is such as clearly to take account of the possibility of future amendments.

Judges:

Kennedy LJ and Jackson

Citations:

Times 12-Oct-2000, Gazette 03-Aug-2000, [2001] EHLR 5

Cited by:

Applied – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v ASDA Stores Ltd and Another QBD 24-Jun-2002
The defendant store had been accused of failing to comply with standards for grading of agricultural produce. They had been acquitted, following Mayne, on the basis that the prosecution was under European regulations introduced after the Act . .
Cited – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v ASDA Stores Limited and another HL 18-Dec-2003
The company was prosecuted for offences under the Regulations, relating to the designation of horticultural produce for sale. The original Act had been relied upon to implement the European regulations after entry to the EU.
Held: The offences . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Administrative, Crime, European, Agriculture

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.83488

Lewin (Trading Standards Officer) v Barratt Homes Ltd: QBD 1 Dec 1999

New houses were advertised for sale. Pictures of the house were available, with some disclaimers as to minor variations, but the houses actually built had greater deviation. The builder claimed the statements were not descriptions of existing properties, but they knew they could not build the houses as described.
Held: The case was remitted to the magistrates with a direction to convict.

Citations:

Gazette 01-Dec-1999

Statutes:

Property Misdescriptions Act 1991

Crime, Land

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.83042

Lau v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 29 Mar 2000

Two alleged incidents might be sufficient to be seen as a course of conduct and found an allegation of harassment under the Act, but any distance in time between them might suggest that they could not be seen as one course of conduct. Here a separation of four months was too much, although harassment associated perhaps with an annual event might do so.

Citations:

Times 29-Mar-2000, [2000] 1 FLR 799

Statutes:

Protection from Harassment Act 1997 2(1)

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Hills CACD 20-Dec-2000
The Act could apply to acts which were directed toward a non-stranger, such as an estranged spouse. In considering whether a ‘course of conduct’ was established, the court should consider the case law, and assess the distance between incidents. In . .
Cited – Regina v Patel (Nitin) CACD 11-Nov-2004
The defendant appealed his conviction under the 1977 Act.
Held: The judge directing a jury must require a finding that the different acts complained of had a sufficient connection with each other to form a ‘course of conduct’ within the Act. . .
Cited – Banks v Ablex Ltd CA 24-Feb-2005
The claimant appealed denial of her claim for damages for psychological injury. She complained that her employer had failed to prevent her and other female employees being bullied by a co-worker, and they committed a breach of statutory duty in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.82957

Islington London Borough Council v Michaelides: QBD 21 Jun 2001

The council brought proceedings alleging breach of a planning notice. The defendant applied for a lawful development certificate, and upon it being granted the council withdrew the proceedings. Later it came to the conclusion that the defendant had misrepresented the extent of the use, and there were complaints about the noise. They withdrew the certificate, and sought to issue new proceedings, but based on the same situation. The defendant pled autrefois acquit. It was held that the prosecution could proceed. No adjudication on the merits had been made, and the withdrawal was merely administrative. The plea of autrefois acquit was not made out.

Citations:

Gazette 21-Jun-2001

Planning, Crime

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.82434

Harris v Director of Public Prosecutions; Fehmi v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 9 Sep 1992

A lockable folding knife was a fixed blade knife where a process was required in order to refold it. To be ‘a folding pocket-knife’ the blade has to be readily and immediately foldable at all times simply by the folding process. It held that a knife which on opening automatically locks and cannot be folded until a button has been pressed is not ‘a folding pocket-knife’ within the meaning of Section 139. McCowan LJ said: ‘to be a folding pocket-knife the knife has to be readily and indeed immediately foldable at all times, simply by the folding process. A knife of the type with which these appeals are concerned is not in this category because, in the first place, there is a stage, namely, when it has been opened, when it is not immediately foldable simply by the folding process and, secondly, it requires that further process, namely, the pressing of the button.’

Judges:

McCowan LJ

Citations:

Gazette 09-Sep-1992, (1992) 96 Cr App R 235

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1988 139

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Deegan CACD 4-Feb-1998
The defendant appealed his conviction for possession of a bladed article in a public place. It was a pocket knife which locked open, but its blade could be retracted on using the mechanism, and did not exceed three inches.
Held: The Court . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.81252

Gillingham Borough Council v Cock: QBD 1 Mar 1993

Where the defendant was accused of affixing posters to lampposts contrary to the Act, the defence under the section was available to him only if he could show that he had no knowledge or had not consented to the posters being displayed in this manner. The knowledge and consent were disjunctive, and he might still have a defence if he knew of the act but did not consent to it.

Citations:

Ind Summary 01-Mar-1993

Statutes:

Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1989 5, Town and Country Planning Act 1990 224(5)

Planning, Crime

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.80836

Finegan v Heywood: HCJ 10 May 2000

Parasomnia which resulted in the defendant driving his car after consuming an excess of alcohol but without being aware of his actions in so doing, did not amount to the defence of automatism, where he had previously suffered similar incidents after drinking.

Citations:

Times 10-May-2000

Crime, Scotland

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.80545