R v Betty Lamptey

A confiscation order should be quashed where it was made on a materially false factual premise about the available amount and its compensatory purpose has disappeared. A bank which has already recovered the loan and accrued interest from the relevant account has no uncompensated loss requiring compensation. An appellate court may extend time and allow a sentence appeal where justice requires correction of such an order.

The appellant pleaded guilty to two fraud offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and an identity-document offence under the Identity Documents Act 2010. On 28 June 2016, the Crown Court imposed eight months’ imprisonment and a confiscation order of £5,000, including £3,000 compensation to Barclays Bank.

Enforcement proceedings later showed that Barclays had recovered the £6,000 loan and interest from the company account, and that the balance available had been substantially below the figure used when the order was made. The appellant sought to appeal out of time. The Crown agreed that the order and accrued interest should be quashed.

1. Appeal allowed. The court extended time, granted leave to appeal and confirmed the representation order. It held that there was good reason to permit the very late appeal and that doing so was in the interests of justice.
2. The confiscation order should not have been made. It proceeded on a false factual basis as to the available amount because no inquiry had established the balance in the company account when the order was imposed. A proper inquiry would have shown that the balance was materially less than £10,000.
3. More fundamentally, the compensatory element of the order had been intended to ensure that Barclays was not out of pocket from the appellant’s offending. Barclays had already recovered the loan and accrued interest through an internal transfer from the company account. It therefore had no uncompensated loss.
4. The remaining balance, which was less than £1,000, had been transferred to a Barclays sundry account. It was not in the appellant’s hands. No application was before the court for a fresh order concerning that sum.
5. The court quashed the compensation order against the appellant, including accrued interest, and quashed the order dated 28 June 2016 made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — On 8 October 2024, the court extended time, granted leave and allowed the appeal against sentence. It quashed the confiscation order and compensation element: [2024] EWCA Crim 1501.
• Crown Court at Manchester (Minshull Street) — On 28 June 2016, HHJ Maurice Greene imposed eight months’ imprisonment and a confiscation order of £5,000, of which £3,000 was directed as compensation to Barclays Bank.