Tag: Crime

Regina v Bowden (T): CACD 24 Feb 1995

The defendant, a maintenance manager, was accused of misconduct in public office. He had caused works to be carried out by other employees of the local authority on premises occupied by a friend when such works were not required under the authority’s repair policy. He said that as a local authority employee, and not being an employee of the Crown he could not commit the offence.
Held: He could. A local authority employee can commit the common law criminal offence of misconduct in public office. The defendant received a salary from public funds and was accountable for public funds. The offender was considered to be a public officer because he was ‘appointed to discharge a public duty and received compensation in whatever shape whether from the Crown or otherwise.’ The offence did not apply only to elected officials. The crime resembles the tort of misfeasance.

Independent 05-Apr-1995, Times 06-Mar-1995, [1996] 1 WLR 98, [1995] 4 All ER 505, 93/6974/X2
Local Government and Planning Act 1980 16, Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Henly v Lyme Corporation 1828
The plaintiff owned property by the sea. It was swamped by the tide because the corporation, who had been granted land by the Crown subject to a condition that it maintain the sea-defences of the cob, had ‘wrongfully and unjustly intending to . .
Cited – Regina v Llewellyn-Jones CACD 1968
The Registrar of a County Court was convicted of offences of misconduct in public office. The indictment charged ‘misbehaviour in a public office, contrary to common law’ and alleged that court orders had been made ‘with the intention of gaining . .
Cited – Regina v Hall 1891
On taking an office of trust concerning the public, a person makes himself answerable to the Crown irrespective of who they had been appointed by, and in what way the appointment arose. It is an ‘old principle that where an Act of Parliament creates . .
Cited – Rex v Whittaker 1914
The Court was asked whether the defendant, a regimentary colonel accused of receiving bribes in connection with the construction of a canteen, was a ‘public officer’ within the meaning of the relevant legislation.
Held: Lawrence J said: ‘A . .
Cited – Regina v Dytham CACD 1979
A constable was 30 yards away from the entrance to a club, from which he saw a man ejected. There was a fight involving cries and screams and the man was beaten and kicked to death in the gutter outside the club. The constable made no move to . .

Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 2003) CACD 7-Apr-2004
Police Officers had been acquitted of misconduct in public office. They had stood by in a police station custody suite as a prisoner lay on the floor and died.
Held: The trial took place before R -v- G which had overruled Caldwell. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Local Government

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.86175

Regina v Heath: CACD 7 Oct 1999

The appellant claimed that he had become indebted to a drug supplier, and that he had been compelled by threats of physical violence to collect the consignment of drugs which gave rise to his conviction. His defence of duress failed at trial.
Held: The appeal failed. Kennedy LJ: ‘The appellant in evidence conceded that he had put himself in the position where he was likely to be subjected to threats. He was therefore, in our judgment, not entitled to rely on those same threats as duress to excuse him from liability for subsequent criminal conduct.’ The court found it possible to distinguish R v Baker and Ward, observing: ‘It is the awareness of the risk of compulsion which matters. Prior awareness of what criminal activity those exercising compulsion may offer as a possible alternative to violence is irrelevant.’

Kennedy LJ, Turner and Smedley JJ
[2000] Crim LR 109
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Baker and Ward CACD 31-Mar-1999
The appellants claimed that they had been specifically instructed to rob the particular store which they were convicted of robbing, and did so under duress. The trial judge had directed the jury: ‘A person cannot rely on the defence of duress if he . .
Leave – Regina v Heath CACD 25-May-1999
Renewed application for leave to appeal. The appellant claimed that he had become indebted to a drug supplier, and that he had been compelled by threats of physical violence to collect the consignment of drugs which gave rise to his conviction. His . .

Cited by:
Cited – Hasan, Regina v HL 17-Mar-2005
The House was asked two questions: the meaning of ‘confession’ for the purposes of section 76(1) of the 1984 Act, and as to the defence of duress. The defendant had been involved in burglary, being told his family would be harmed if he refused. The . .
Followed – Regina v Harmer CACD 12-Dec-2001
The defendant claimed duress saying that he had become indebted to his drugs supplier and had been forced to commit the crimes. He said he did not foresee that he might be required to commit crimes for the supplier.
Held: The court did not . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.223671

Regina v Forbes (Giles): HL 20 Jul 2001

The defendant had been convicted of evading a prohibition on importing articles of an obscene or indecent nature. He had been unaware of whether the articles were indecent images of children, or otherwise obscene images. Since the provisions which made these unlawful and therefore prohibited were so different, he claimed it was necessary to have proved that he knew the nature of what he was importing.
Held: It was not necessary in that way. The prosecution must prove that he was importing goods subject to a prohibition, and his activities were directed at evading that prohibition. Lord Hutton: ‘The offence created by section 170(2)(b) of the 1979 Act is the offence of being ‘knowingly concerned in any fraudulent evasion … of any prohibition . . with respect to the goods’. The essence of the offence is being knowingly concerned in the evasion of a prohibition. The jury were fully entitled to find that the behaviour of the appellant satisfied them that he was knowingly concerned in the evasion of a prohibition. His behaviour in buying genuine video films of ‘Spartacus’ and ‘The Godfather Part 2′ in the airport shop at Amsterdam Airport and obtaining receipts for them, leaving the genuine video films in the lavatory at Heathrow, and then producing the receipts which appeared to relate to the two video films containing indecent material, pointed quite clearly to the conclusion that he knew that he was involved in the evasion of a prohibition against importation.’

Lord Slynn of Hadley Lord Steyn Lord Hope of Craighead Lord Clyde Lord Hutton
Times 20-Jul-2001, Gazette 06-Sep-2001, [2001] UKHL 40, [2002] 2 AC 512, [2001] Crim LR 906, [2002] 1 Cr App R 1, [2001] 3 WLR 428, [2001] 4 All ER 97
Bailii, House of Lords
Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 170(2)(b), Customs Consolidation Act 1876 42, Obscene Publications Act 1959 1
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Conegate Ltd v HM Customs and Excise 1987
Even though the terms of paragraph 6 of schedule 3 to CEMA appear to give the court in forfeiture proceedings no choice but to condemn the goods if they are ‘liable to forfeiture’ under the Act, the court must refuse to do this if to do so would be . .
Approved – Regina v Hussain CACD 1969
The only mens rea necessary for proof of any offence of importing drugs was the knowledge that the goods were subject to a prohibition on importation. The accused must know ‘that what is on foot is the evasion of a prohibition against importation . .
Cited – Regina v Hennessey (Timothy) CACD 1978
The court considered the obligations of the prosecution on disclosure. The courts must: ‘keep in mind that those who prepare and conduct prosecutions owe a duty to the courts to ensure that all relevant evidence of help to an accused is either led . .
Cited – Regina v Taaffe HL 1984
For the purpose of section 170(2) of the 1979 Act a defendant must be judged on the facts as he believed them to be, such matter being an integral part of the inquiry as to whether he was knowingly concerned in a fraudulent evasion of a prohibition . .

Cited by:
Cited – Forbes v Secretary of State for the Home Department QBD 26-Jul-2005
The defendant argued that the 2003 Act was in breach of his article 8 rights. He had been registered as a sex offender, but the offence for which he had been convicted involved no proof of intention.
Held: The claimant having brought the . .
See Also – Forbes v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 11-Jul-2006
The defendant had been placed on the sex offenders’ register on conviction for fraudulent evasion of prohibitions on importing goods, by importing indecent photographs of children. He had maintained that he had not known of the exact nature of the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Customs and Excise

Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.88459

Regina v Conway: CACD 28 Jul 1988

The defendant appealed against his conviction for reckless driving. He said the offence was committed out of necessity, since his passenger’s life was under threat.
Held: Necessity can only be a defence to a charge of reckless driving where the facts establish ‘duress of circumstances’ . . where the defendant was constrained by circumstances to drive as he did to avoid death or serious bodily harm to himself or some other person.

Woolf LJ, McCullough, Auld JJ
[1988] EWCA Crim 1, [1989] QB 290
Bailii
Road Traffic Act 1972 2
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Willer (Mark Edward) CACD 1986
The defendant appealed against his conviction for reckless driving (absolute discharge and ten penalty points). He drove his car slowly on the pavement in front of a shopping precinct. He said that this had seemed to him to be the only way in which . .
Cited – Regina v Denton CACD 1987
Necessity not a defence to reckless driving
The trial judge had refused to leave to the jury the defence of necessity, which the appellant sought to bring to a road traffic allegation.
Held: The appeal failed. Caulfield J referred to the authorities, and said: ‘In view of our ultimate . .
Cited – Regina v Lawrence (Stephen) HL 1981
The defendant had ridden a motor-cycle and hit a pedestrian. The court asked whether he had been reckless.
Held: The House understood recklessness as ‘a state of mind stopping short of deliberate intention, and going beyond mere inadvertence’ . .
Cited – Regina v Graham (Paul) CACD 18-Dec-1981
The defence of duress requires establishment of a reasonable belief. In judging the accused’s response the test is: ‘have the prosecution made the jury sure that a sober person of reasonable firmness, sharing the characteristics of the defendant, . .
Cited – Regina v Willer (Mark Edward) CACD 1986
The defendant appealed against his conviction for reckless driving (absolute discharge and ten penalty points). He drove his car slowly on the pavement in front of a shopping precinct. He said that this had seemed to him to be the only way in which . .
Cited – Regina v Howe etc HL 19-Feb-1986
The defendants appealed against their convictions for murder, saying that their defences of duress had been wrongly disallowed.
Held: Duress is not a defence available on a charge of murder. When a defence of duress is raised, the test is . .

Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Martin (Colin) CACD 29-Nov-1988
Defence of Necessity has a Place in Criminal Law
The defendant appealed against his conviction for driving whilst disqualified. He said he had felt obliged to drive his stepson to work because his stepson had overslept. His wife (who had suicidal tendencies) had been threatening suicide unless he . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Road Traffic

Leading Case

Updated: 11 December 2021; Ref: scu.262891

Planton v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 6 Jun 2001

The defendant was found by police sat in the driving seat of a car parked on an isthmus which would be submerged at high tide. The engine was running, and the car lights were on. He failed a breath test, but argued at trial that since the car had not been moving, he could not be said to have been driving. It was held that the question of whether he was still driving was one of fact and degree. In this case he could properly be said to have been driving. The appeal was allowed on other grounds. A distinction is to be made where premises are occupied by a large number of people – even if there has been a condition of entry for those people, the premises will be a ‘public place’.

Pill LJ, Silber LJ
Gazette 05-Jul-2001, Times 17-Aug-2001, [2002] RTR 9, [2001] EWHC 450 (Admin)
Bailii
Road Traffic Act 1988 5(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Explained – Director of Public Prosecutins v Vivier QBD 1991
There had been a traffic accident in a large privately owned caravan park.
Held: Premises will be private where they are entered for reasons beneficial to the occupier. Referring to Harrison v Hill: ‘What Lord Sands, and indeed Lord Clyde, say . .

Cited by:
Cited – May v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 15-Apr-2005
Whether the car park where the driving took place was a ‘public place’ within the meaning of section 3.
Held: The appeal failed.
Laws LJ set out the following propositions as accurately summarising the relevant legal principles:
a. . .
Cited – Hughes, Regina v SC 31-Jul-2013
Uninsured Driver Not Guilty of Causing Death
The appellant though an uninsured driver, was driving without fault when another vehicle veered across the road. The other driver died from his injuries, and the appellant convicted of causing his death whilst uninsured. At trial he succeeded in . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Road Traffic

Updated: 10 December 2021; Ref: scu.84759

Blackman, Regina v: CACD 22 May 2014

The appellant had been convicted of murder. As an Army sergeant serving in Afghanistan, he had killed a captured insurgent.

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, CJ
[2015] 1 All ER 148, [2015] 1 WLR 1900, [2014] EWCA Crim 1029, [2014] 2 Cr App R 18
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
See Also – Blackman, Regina v CACD 15-Mar-2017
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder. As an army officer serving in Afghanistan he had killed an injured captured insurgent.
Held: The defendant had at the time of the offence suffered a recognised psychiatric condition, . .
See Also – Blackman, Regina v (Media) CACD 28-Mar-2017
The defendant officer appealed against his conviction for murder. Whilst serving a s an officer in Afghanistan, he had killed a captured soldier. That conviction had been quashed and a conviction for manslaughter on diminished responsibility . .
See Also – Blackman, Regina v (Sentence) CACD 28-Mar-2017
Sentence – manslaughter of prisoner
The defendant whilst serving in Afghanistan had killed a prisoner. His appeal against his conviction for murder had been successful, and a conviction for manslaughter had been substituted on the basis that he was at the time suffering a recognised . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Armed Forces, Human Rights

Updated: 03 December 2021; Ref: scu.525766

Richardson and Another v Director of Public Prosecutions: SC 5 Feb 2014

The defendants had protested against the activities of a shop, by trespassing. They were said to have committed the offence of aggravated trespass under section 68 of the 1994 Act. They objected in part that this infringed their article 10 right of free speech.
Held: The postulated offences all were either not demonstrated to have been committed by the occupants of the shop at the time of the defendants’ trespass or were at most collateral to the core activity of selling rather than integral to that activity. The occupants of the shop were, accordingly, engaged in the lawful activity of retail selling at the time and section 68(2) provided no defence to the defendants.
The article 10 claim also failed. Article 10 does not confer a licence to trespass on other people’s property in order to give voice to one’s views.
Lord Hughes spoke abot section 68 of the 1994 Act: ‘The intention of the section is plainly to add the sanction of the criminal law to a trespass where, in addition to the defendant invading the property of someone else where he is not entitled to be, he there disrupts an activity which the occupant is entitled to pursue. Section 68(2) therefore must mean that the additional criminal sanction is removed when the activity which is disrupted is, in itself, unlawful, which may be either because the occupant is himself trespassing, or because his activity is criminal. Mr Southey’s realistic concession is correct, for not every incidental or collateral criminal offence can properly be said to affect the lawfulness of the activity, nor to render it criminal. It will do so only when the criminal offence is integral to the core activity carried on. It will not do so when there is some incidental or collateral offence, which is remote from the activity. The decisions in Hibberd and Nelder are both consistent with this approach. The certified question ought thus to be answered ‘Yes’.’

Lady Hale, Deputy President, Lord Kerr, Lord Hughes, Lord Toulson, Lord Hodge
[2014] UKSC 8, [2014] 1 Cr App R 29, [2014] 2 WLR 288, [2014] 1 AC 635, [2014] WLR(D) 52, [2014] Crim LR 817, [2014] 2 All ER 20, UKSC 2012/0198
Bailii, Bailii Summary, WLRD, SC Summary, SC
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 68, European Convention on Human Rights 10
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Nero and Another v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 29-Mar-2012
Parties appealed against convictions for aggravated trespass under the 1994 Act arising from trespassing demonstrations. They argued that the lawfulness of the activity being carried out on the land subject to the trespass is an ingredient in the . .
Cited – Regina v Jones (Margaret), Regina v Milling and others HL 29-Mar-2006
Domestic Offence requires Domestic Defence
Each defendant sought to raise by way of defence of their otherwise criminal actions, the fact that they were attempting to prevent the commission by the government of the crime of waging an aggressive war in Iraq, and that their acts were . .
Cited – Ayliffe and others v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 21-Apr-2005
The case concerned actions taken at military bases by way of protest against the Iraq war. Each raised questions arising from the prosecution of the appellants for offences of aggravated trespass. The defendants asserted, among other things, that . .
Cited – Hibberd v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 27-Nov-1996
The defendant trespasser set out to stop the clearance of land for the construction of a new by-pass. He gave evidence that one or more of the tree-fellers was using a chainsaw but not wearing gloves and suggested that that raised the real . .
Cited – Nelder and Others v Crown Prosecution Service Admn 3-Jun-1998
Hunt saboteurs set out to disrupt a hunt, and were accused of offences of aggravated trespass under the 1994 Act. They defended saying that they had been prevening unlawful activities. They brought evidence that at the outset of the hunt, two . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 29 November 2021; Ref: scu.521158

Powlesland v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 9 Dec 2013

The defendant apealed against his conviction for having taken part in a public procession, a a Critical Mass Cycle Ride, knowingly in breach of conditions attached to it by the Police. The defendant had argued that the ride was not a procession.
Held: The appeal failed. ‘The power to give directions is to be used, not just when the organisers of a procession have been co-operative enough to tell the police in advance of their intentions as to a specific route, but and perhaps more importantly when they have not done so. It would be an absurd interpretation if a direction, aimed at preventing serious disruption, could not be given unless the police knew as a matter of objectively provable fact that the procession would follow a specific route from A to B via particular roads, despite disruptive organisers masking their intentions. It cannot be that, until the police know the specific route, they cannot use s12 to prevent the use of a reasonably possible but seriously disruptive route. The power to give directions would not be useable when most needed; and it could always be objected that the police did not know what the route was to be, but had merely believed, however reasonably, that it could take a disruptive route.’

Goldring LJ, Ouseley J
[2013] EWHC 3846 (Admin), (2014) 178 JP 67, [2014] 1 WLR 2984, [2014] WLR(D) 139
Bailii, WLRD
Public Order Act 1986 12(5)
Citing:
Cited – Kay v Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis HL 26-Nov-2008
The claimant had been involved in a monthly cycle ride through central London which had continued for many years. The ride took place without any central organisation and without any route being pre-planned. They objected to being required to apply . .
Cited – Kay v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Admn 27-Jun-2006
For many years and in many large cities, once a month, cyclists had gathered en masse to cycle through the city in a ‘Critical Mass’ demonstration. There was no central organisation. Clarification was sought as to whether the consent of the police . .
Cited – Flockhart v Robinson 1950
A challenge was made to the organising of a procession. Its route was determined by Mr Flockhart as he went along.
Held: For the purposes of section 3(4) of the 1936 Act, a procession ‘is a body of persons moving along a route’ and that, by . .
Cited – Jukes and Others v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 16-Jan-2013
Two of those participating in a march demonstrating against cuts in the education budget, left that march to join the Occupy Movement’s demonstration in Trafalgar Square against the excesses of capitalism. They were, convicted at Westminster . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Road Traffic, Police

Updated: 28 November 2021; Ref: scu.519993

Coats, Regina v: CACD 24 Jul 2013

The defendant had been convicted of importing drugs. She denied knowledge of the offence and denied any coercion. Another person awaiting her at the airport was later convicted of an unassociated murder. She now appealed sayng that she had been coerced. The court was now asked whether he appellant may have been suffering from Battered Woman’s Syndrome at the time of the offence; and (ii) If so, was it a severity and degree that it might have afforded her the defence of duress?
Held: The appeal failed: ‘We make every allowance for the fact that a battered woman may not report their abuser, may not reveal the true extent of their abuse and may withdraw complaints. However, the contemporaneous records of this woman, of her complaints of her dealings with the police and social workers simply do not paint a picture of an abused woman who is passive and suppressing her suffering and her fears. They reveal a woman with her own anger management problems, a woman prepared to stand up for herself with Walters and the authorities and who far from being isolated was in regular contact with friends and relations.’

Hallett DBE LJ, Openshaw, Leggatt JJ
[2013] EWCA Crim 1472
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Hasan, Regina v HL 17-Mar-2005
The House was asked two questions: the meaning of ‘confession’ for the purposes of section 76(1) of the 1984 Act, and as to the defence of duress. The defendant had been involved in burglary, being told his family would be harmed if he refused. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime

Updated: 25 November 2021; Ref: scu.517484

Regina v St Regis Paper Company Ltd: CACD 4 Nov 2011

The court was asked as to the extent which the appellant, St. Regis Paper Company Limited, could be held criminally liable for intentionally making a false entry in a record required for environmental pollution control in its application to offences requiring proof of mens rea.

Moses LJ, Nicola Davies, Gilbert QC JJ
[2011] EWCA Crim 2527, [2012] PTSR 871, [2012] 1 Cr App R 14, [2012] Lloyd’s Rep FC 221, [2012] Env LR 16
Bailii
Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Seabord Offshore Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport (The Safe Carrier) HL 25-Mar-1994
The House was asked whether a ship manager was legally responsible for the acts of the ship’s chief engineer under s31(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988, which imposed a duty on the manager to take all reasonable steps to secure that the ship was . .

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.

Crime

Updated: 22 November 2021; Ref: scu.448148