Crown Prosecution Service, R (on the application of) v Crown Court At Preston

A reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission of a magistrates’ court conviction under section 11(2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 must be treated as an appeal by way of rehearing, whether or not the defendant originally pleaded guilty. The reference removes the procedural bar in section 108 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980; it does not itself vacate the conviction or guilty plea. The Crown Court may therefore proceed directly to the rehearing. An earlier guilty plea remains capable of admission as confession evidence, subject to the safeguards and exclusionary provisions in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, without any presumption for or against admission.

The Crown Prosecution Service sought judicial review of a decision by the Honorary Recorder of Preston concerning Michael Mills, who had pleaded guilty to offences in the Youth Court when aged 15. The Criminal Cases Review Commission later referred the convictions to the Crown Court under section 11 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995.

The CPS argued that Mr Mills first had to obtain an order vacating his guilty pleas before the Crown Court could hear the reference by way of rehearing. The Crown Court rejected that preliminary requirement. The central issue was whether a CCRC reference removes the need for an application to vacate an earlier guilty plea before the Crown Court hears the appeal.

1. The judicial review claim was dismissed. The Crown Court was entitled to proceed with the CCRC reference by way of rehearing.
2. Section 11(2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 provides that a conviction referred by the CCRC is to be treated for all purposes as an appeal under section 108(1) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, whether or not the defendant pleaded guilty. The words necessarily encompass an appeal by way of rehearing. Requiring a preliminary application to vacate the plea could prevent any substantive appeal, or leave no conviction against which an appeal could proceed if the plea were vacated.
3. The effect of section 11(2) is to circumvent the section 108 bar. It does not vacate the plea or conviction automatically. The conviction remains in force unless and until quashed by the Crown Court.
4. The established power to vacate a guilty plea on an ordinary appeal remains limited. It principally concerns an equivocal plea, namely a plea which the magistrates ought not to have accepted. The court did not need finally to determine whether the broader approaches in Huntingdon Justices, ex parte Jordan and Cooper v New Forest District Council remain correct.
5. The different treatment of CCRC references is supported by section 11(6), which prevents the Crown Court imposing a more severe punishment, and by the CCRC’s statutory referral conditions. Concerns about stale evidence do not justify importing the ordinary vacation-of-plea requirement.
6. An earlier guilty plea may be admissible as a confession. Its admission on a CCRC rehearing is governed by sections 76 and 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and the judge must decide the question without a predisposition towards admission or exclusion.
7. The application was refused and the Crown Court appeal was to proceed by way of rehearing.

• Preston Crown Court: On 6 June 2022, the Honorary Recorder held that a preliminary application to vacate the earlier guilty pleas was unnecessary before the CCRC reference could be heard by way of rehearing.
• High Court (Administrative Court): The judicial review claim was dismissed and the Crown Court’s approach was endorsed.