Maciejczyk, R v

A conviction founded on a guilty plea to an offence which has been repealed is invalid because the offence is no longer known to law. The Court of Appeal must allow an appeal and quash the conviction and sentence. An indictment should be checked carefully before amendment, particularly where a proposed count depends on earlier sexual-offences legislation. Where verdicts of not guilty have formally been entered on the other counts and no retrial is sought, the court need not determine what alternative charge might previously have been available.

The applicant was prosecuted in the Crown Court at Liverpool for offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Sexual Offences Act 2003. After the jury had been sworn, the indictment was amended to add a count of living on prostitution under section 30(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.

The applicant pleaded guilty to that count. No evidence was offered on the original counts and formal verdicts of not guilty were entered. He received four months’ imprisonment. It was later discovered that the added offence had been repealed by Schedule 7 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. A proposed post-sentence alteration of the indictment under section 155 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 was correctly rejected.

The central issue was whether a conviction for a repealed offence could stand and whether any alternative charge or retrial remained available.

1. Appeal allowed. The court quashed both the conviction and the four-month sentence.

2. The count added to the indictment alleged an offence under section 30(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956. That provision had been repealed by Schedule 7 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The alleged offence was therefore not known to law when the applicant pleaded guilty. His guilty plea could not sustain a conviction.

3. The error arose because neither counsel nor the trial judge identified the repeal before permitting the indictment to be amended. The court stressed the need for careful research before adding a count and inviting a plea.

4. The prosecution properly accepted that the conviction appeal should succeed. Formal not-guilty verdicts had already been entered on the two original counts. No alternative charge was available and the prosecution sought no retrial. It was consequently unnecessary to decide what charge, if any, might originally have been included in the indictment.

5. The trial judge had correctly held that section 155 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 did not permit a post-sentence variation of the indictment to cure the error. The applicant had served no additional custodial time as a result of the invalid count.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Allowed the conviction appeal and quashed the conviction and sentence: [2018] EWCA Crim 2665.
• Crown Court at Liverpool: Permitted an amendment adding a repealed offence, accepted a guilty plea to it, and imposed four months’ imprisonment. Formal verdicts of not guilty were entered on the two original counts.