Myers, R v

A renewed application for leave to appeal may proceed out of time where an adequate explanation for delay is given. Leave should be granted where the proposed grounds have sufficient merit to justify full argument before the court.

The applicant was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court of aggravated burglary and received imprisonment for public protection with a six-year minimum custodial term. He renewed, out of time, an application for leave to appeal against conviction after refusal by a single judge.

The proposed grounds concerned the admission of the applicant’s previous convictions, the exclusion of the complainant’s convictions, and the resulting alleged imbalance in the evidence. The court considered whether the delay should be excused and whether the grounds warranted a full appeal hearing.

1. Extension of time granted. The applicant had provided an adequate explanation for the substantial delay in renewing the application ([2010] EWCA Crim 2005, para 2).
2. Leave to appeal against conviction granted. The court did not determine the merits of the evidential grounds. It had not heard the Crown and accepted that substantial argument remained possible. However, the challenge to the admission of the applicant’s convictions, the proposed admission of the complainant’s convictions, and the alleged evidential imbalance had sufficient merit to justify argument before the full court (para 9).

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): extension of time granted and renewed application for leave to appeal against conviction granted.
• Crown Court at Birmingham: on 25 March 2009, the applicant was convicted of aggravated burglary and sentenced to imprisonment for public protection with a six-year minimum custodial term.
• Single judge: leave to appeal was refused before the renewed application.