The defendant appealed against his conviction for aiding an offender. He had pleaded guilty, but the principal offender had subsequently been acquitted of his alleged offences.
Held: The appeal failed. The section referred to the commission of an offence, and not to a conviction for that offence. There are several reasons why the conviction was not incompatible with a failure to convict a principal offender. The issue was whether the defendant believed at the time that the person he assisted was guilty of an offence.
Judges:
Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Mrs Justice Sharp and Sir Peter Cresswell
Citations:
[2010] EWCA Crim 209
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Crime
Updated: 14 August 2022; Ref: scu.401642