Longworth, R. v

A conviction for a qualifying sexual offence remains effective for notification purposes where the offender receives a conditional discharge. Under section 14(1) of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, the statutory notification requirement is for the purposes of the proceedings in which the discharge order was made. It is an ancillary consequence that follows inevitably from conviction.

The requirement is preventative rather than punitive. It is therefore not a disqualification or disability within section 14(3). Accordingly, a conditionally discharged offender falls within the residual category in section 1(4) of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 and is subject to notification requirements for five years.

The appellant pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Warrington to two offences of making an indecent photograph or pseudophotograph of children. The images were within the least serious category identified in Oliver.

He received concurrent 12-month conditional discharges. The sentencing judge subsequently ruled that he remained subject to the notification requirements in Part I of the Sex Offenders Act 1997. The appeal concerned whether section 14 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 prevented those requirements from applying after a conditional discharge.

Decision

1. The appeal was dismissed. The sentencing judge was correct to hold that the appellant remained subject to the notification requirements.

2. Section 14(3) of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 did not assist the appellant. The notification requirements are preventative, not punitive. They impose neither a disqualification nor a disability upon a convicted person.

3. Section 14(1) provides an exception to the general deeming rule applicable to an absolute or conditional discharge. The notification requirement fell within the purposes of the proceedings in which the discharge order was made. It followed inevitably from the conviction and was a statutory ancillary condition attached to the judge's orders in those proceedings.

4. The conviction therefore continued to count for notification purposes despite the conditional discharge. Under section 1(4) of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, the appellant was a person of any other description and was subject to notification requirements for five years from conviction.

5. The court resolved the prior conflicting decisions on the ordinary meaning of the legislation. Later changes made by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 did not assist the construction of the legislation applicable at the time.

1. Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Dismissed the appeal against the ruling that a conditional discharge did not remove the appellant from the notification requirements.

2. Crown Court at Warrington: Following guilty pleas on 2 December 2003, imposed concurrent 12-month conditional discharges. On 12 January 2004, the sentencing judge ruled that the notification requirements under the Sex Offenders Act 1997 applied.