R v Reyon Vincent & Anor

Where a defendant is convicted under the wrong firearms provision, the conviction is unsafe and must be quashed. The Court of Appeal’s substitution power is limited to an offence which the defendant could, on the indictment, have been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, on facts proved at trial. A conviction for possession of prohibited ammunition under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 cannot be substituted with a conviction under section 1 where the prosecution has not proved the absence of a firearms certificate, an essential element of the section 1 offence.

Reyon Vincent and Dean Vincent sought leave to appeal convictions for possessing prohibited ammunition under section 5(1)(c) of the Firearms Act 1968. The ammunition was not prohibited under section 5. It required authorisation under section 1, so the indictment alleged the wrong offence. The Crown accepted that the convictions were unsafe and withdrew its application to substitute section 1(1)(b) convictions under the Criminal Appeals Act 1968. The central issue was whether the Court had power to substitute convictions when no firearms certificate, or its absence, had been proved to the jury.

1. Appeals allowed. Dean Vincent’s convictions on Counts 3, 4 and 5 were quashed. Reyon Vincent’s conviction on Count 5 was quashed.
2. The convictions under section 5(1)(c) of the Firearms Act 1968 were unsafe because the ammunition was not prohibited under section 5. The indictment also breached Criminal Procedure Rule 10.2(1) by stating the wrong offence and particulars.
3. The Court considered its earlier decisions in R v Lawrence [2013] EWCA Crim 1054 and R v Buddington [2015] EWCA Crim 1127. Those decisions established that the substitution power applies only where the offender could, on the indictment, have pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of the lesser offence, and the plea or proved facts established that offence.
4. The same principle applies after conviction by jury. A conviction under section 1(1)(b) requires proof that the defendant had no firearms certificate. No such evidence was before the jury. The unsafe section 5 convictions therefore could not be substituted with section 1 convictions.
5. The Crown’s proposed substitution was withdrawn, and the convictions were quashed rather than replaced by convictions under section 1(1)(b).

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): leave granted and appeals allowed. The relevant convictions were quashed.
• Trial: a jury convicted the appellants on the relevant ammunition counts. The lower court was not otherwise identified or cited in the judgment.