R v Ruben Thomas Patrick Hoather

A participant in a group attack may be guilty of murder although another participant inflicts the fatal wound. The necessary question is whether that participant intended to cause death or really serious injury. Jogee does not assist a person where the evidence amply establishes that intention.

When considering a substantially late application for leave to appeal, the court requires a good reason for the delay and may consider the merits of the proposed appeal. An extension will be refused where no adequate explanation is provided and the proposed grounds have no arguable merit.

The applicant pleaded guilty to murder at Liverpool Crown Court before Kerr J on 6 February 2015. He received life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years, less time on remand.

Almost seven years later, he renewed an application for an extension of time and for leave to appeal against conviction. He contended that he had been wrongly advised to plead guilty, that the law on joint enterprise explained in Jogee reduced his liability to manslaughter, and that his mental health raised issues concerning his plea and sentence.

The central questions were whether the extensive delay should be excused and whether any proposed ground disclosed an arguable conviction appeal.

1. The application for an extension of time was refused. The delay of 2,543 days was exceptionally long. The applicant had investigated an appeal in 2017 and knew that an appeal could be brought, but took no further action for about five years after receiving advice that the merits were poor. His asserted mental-health difficulties were unsupported by evidence explaining why he could not have applied earlier.

2. The court nevertheless considered the merits, because they could bear on whether an extension should be granted and overlapped with the asserted reasons for delay. There was no basis for saying that the guilty plea had been induced by legal advice. The contemporaneous material showed that the applicant pleaded guilty of his own free will.

3. Jogee did not alter the applicant’s position. A participant in a group attack need not inflict the fatal injury to be guilty of murder. Liability depends on that participant having intended death or really serious injury. The evidence of prolonged group violence, the applicant’s continued participation after the knife was produced and used, and his conduct after the death amply supported an intention at least to cause really serious harm.

4. There was also no evidence that the applicant had been unfit to plead, that a partial defence had been available, or that mental health justified a shorter minimum term. The proposed grounds had no arguable merit. Had the application been in time, leave to appeal would have been refused.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): refused the applicant’s renewed application for an extension of time to seek leave to appeal against conviction: [2023] EWCA Crim 231.
• Crown Court at Liverpool: the applicant pleaded guilty to murder before Kerr J on 6 February 2015 and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years, less time on remand.