The prosecutor appealed against dismissal of a charge against the defendant of allowing another to fail to give prompt notification of a change of circumstances. The recorder had rules that ‘allow’ required some positive act from the defendant.
Held: The appeal failed. The offence required the defendant to have had some active involvement in the failure to notify. It was the defendant’s partner’s obligation to notify, not the defendant’s. The court referred to a statement in the House when the bill was proposed supporting this view.
Lord Justice Scott Baker, Mr Justice King and Judge Moss, QC
[2009] EWCA Crim 1426, Times 05-Aug-2009, [2010] 1 WLR 605, (2009) 173 JP 393, [2009] 2 Cr App Rep 31
Bailii
Social Security Administration Act 1992 111A(1B), Social Security Fraud Act 2001
England and Wales
Crime, Benefits
Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.365625