Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) judgments, 2017

A whole life order is discretionary and reserved for the rare case in which, after considering all aggravating and mitigating circumstances, just punishment…

In sentencing a drug-trafficking conspiracy, more than one offender may properly be assessed as having a leading role. An offender who takes over an…

Under section 23 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, fresh evidence may be admitted where it is capable of belief, admissible, affords a ground for allowing the…

Time spent by a child remanded to local authority accommodation under section 91(3) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 is not a…

A trial judge must give clear directions on the legal ingredients of each offence and focus any direction on adverse inferences from silence upon the…

When sentencing a health and safety offence, the Definitive Guideline requires a structured exercise of judgment, not an arithmetical calculation. Actual…

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order must be necessary to protect the public from sexual harm. Its prohibitions must be effective, clear, realistic, tailored to the…

Where an offender has substantially complied with the requirements of an earlier suspended sentence order, that compliance should in principle be reflected by…

For an offence under section 16A of the Firearms Act 1968, the sentencing court must consider the factors identified in R v Avis. Serious, premeditated and…

When imposing a community order, the court should usually take account of time spent on remand in custody for the offence or a related offence. Under section…

A sentencing court retains an exceptional residual discretion to reduce an otherwise lawful sentence where this is required to achieve overall justice. The…

For the loss of control defence under Coroners and Justice Act 2009, each statutory component requires separate consideration. The objective limb requires…

For rape sentencing under the Sentencing Council guideline, psychological harm warrants category 2 treatment only where its seriousness is comparable with the…

A determinate custodial term should ordinarily reflect the seriousness of the offending and should not be reduced merely because it is consecutive to an…

In sentencing multiple sexual assaults on children, the court must assess culpability, harm and aggravating features without double counting. Severe…

Where aggravated burglary is charged by reference to grievous bodily harm inflicted after entry, possession of a weapon on entry is not inherent in the…

A restraining order following an acquittal under section 5A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 requires a proper evidential basis for concluding that…

A private prosecution is not an abuse of process merely because the prosecutor also has a financial interest or civil claim arising from the same events. A…

When sentencing for several related offences, the total sentence must reflect the whole criminality and remain just and proportionate. Concurrent sentences may…

When sentencing a person aged 15 to 17 for a grave sexual offence, the court must apply the youth sentencing principles. Emotional and developmental age and…

Where offences are committed to the Crown Court for sentence under section 6 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, the aggregate custodial…

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order under section 103A(2)(b) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 requires a real risk of future sexual harm. Its protective purpose…

A sentencing court must follow an applicable sentencing guideline under section 125 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2008 unless doing so would be contrary to…

A sentencing court may adopt the statutory maximum as the starting point where the offending falls within the band of the gravest cases of that type. It need…

Cell-site records may reliably show the date, time, duration and mast through which a call was routed. They do not, without more, prove that a phone was at a…

Where hearsay evidence is admitted in a criminal trial, the judge should ordinarily warn the jury before hearing it, and repeat the warning in the summing up.…

Evidence which directly concerns the alleged facts is not bad-character evidence under Criminal Justice Act 2003, but each item must be assessed separately.…

A victim of trafficking has no blanket immunity from prosecution. Prosecutors must assess both the public interest in prosecution and the nexus between the…

A sentencing court must assess harm by reference to criminality attributable to the offender. It cannot treat loss, anxiety or distress caused by fraud begun…

Perverting the course of public justice is inherently serious because it impedes the criminal justice system. A substantial and immediate custodial sentence…

A sentencing court should follow the applicable sentencing guideline unless a proper basis exists for departure in the interests of justice. The brief and…

For a prohibited-firearm offence subject to the five-year minimum under Firearms Act 1968, exceptional circumstances arise only where the minimum would be…

A sentencing court must follow the relevant offence-specific guideline under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Where a burglary contrary to section 9(1)(b)…

In a trial involving cut-throat defences, evidence of a defendant’s previous conviction may properly be admitted to show a propensity for untruthfulness where…

Fresh evidence should be received where the interests of justice require it, having regard to its credibility, its potential to afford a ground of appeal, and…

When sentencing a child or young person, the court must take an individualised approach which gives proper weight to rehabilitation, welfare, maturity and the…

An appeal based on inconsistent verdicts succeeds only where the appellant shows that the verdicts are not merely inconsistent, but so inconsistent that…

When sentencing an offence involving a firearm or imitation firearm, the court should assess the nature of the weapon, its use, the offender’s intention, and…

In sentencing for causing death by dangerous driving, culpability is assessed principally by the quality of the driving and the foreseeable danger it created.…

Where gross negligence manslaughter is alleged by a failure to take reasonable steps to protect customers with declared allergies, the breach may be a single…

A trial judge should not ordinarily direct a jury that a complainant has no criminal history or reputation for untruthfulness in order to create a supposed…

In sentencing historic sexual offences, the court may use the modern equivalent offence and the current sexual-offences guideline as a measured aid. It must…

For a conspiracy to transfer prohibited firearms, sentence must reflect the offender’s place in the supply hierarchy, role in the transaction, quantity and…

Bad-character evidence may be admissible under section 101(1)(d) where it is relevant to an important matter in issue other than propensity. A defendant’s…

An advance sentencing indication does not prevent the Attorney General from seeking review for undue leniency under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act…

The drug-offences guideline may legitimately inform sentencing for drug-related offences under the Prison Act 1952, but it must not be applied mechanically.…

A prosecution costs order under section 18(1)(c) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 must be just and reasonable. It is compensatory, not punitive, and…

A defendant seeking, out of time, to appeal a sentence previously dealt with on an Attorney General’s reference must show a good reason for an extension and…

An acquittal of dangerous driving establishes only that the jury was not sure the driving fell far below the required standard. It does not establish…

A substance falls within the functional definition of a medicinal product only where, in the circumstances in which it is supplied and used, its physiological…

On a prosecution appeal from a terminating ruling under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the question is whether the ruling was one which the trial judge could…

When sentencing a historic sexual offence, the court should identify the modern equivalent offence and make measured reference to its guideline. It must adjust…

A sentencing court dealing with the conveyance of controlled drugs into prison may have regard to the Sentencing Council drug-offences guideline, even where…

A notice abandoning a criminal appeal is irrevocable unless the Court of Appeal treats it as a nullity. A notice is a nullity where the appellant’s mind did…

Sentencing for sexual activity with a child family member must begin with the applicable Sentencing Council Guideline category. Penetration places offending in…

Imprisonment for obstructing a railway is not justified merely because the consequences could have been grave. Where the obstruction resulted from careless and…

An absent co-accused’s out-of-court comments may be admitted under section 114(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 only after the court has considered the…

Where bad-character evidence is admissible under section 101(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, it is not to be excluded under section 101(3) merely…

Sentencing for causing or allowing a child’s death under Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, section 5 is fact-specific. The court must assess the…

Where digital material has been disclosed, a prosecutor does not breach a continuing disclosure duty by failing to identify particular footage unless it is…

A prosecutor’s continuing disclosure duty extends only to material capable of undermining the prosecution case or assisting the accused’s case on the issues…

Under Terrorism Act 2000 section 12, the offence is a knowing invitation of support for a proscribed organisation. It does not criminalise the mere holding or…

A sentencing court must not increase a fine to reflect the public cost of a defendant having elected trial by jury. If the defendant has caused avoidable…

A sentencing court must not use draft sentencing guidelines, including consultation drafts. It should use a guideline only once it is definitive. Until then…

A failure to comply fully with a witness-speaking protocol does not itself make a conviction unsafe. The appellate court must assess whether the irregularity…

A jury should not normally retire with transcripts of an ABE interview. Their use requires prior judicial consideration, a very good reason and clear…

A sexual harm prevention order need not have the same duration as statutory notification requirements. Its duration must nevertheless be no longer than…

Where hearsay is admitted through the unavailability gateway in section 116(2)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, there is no further discretion to refuse…

A hospital order with a restriction order is not the proper substitute for a life sentence unless it is the most suitable statutory disposal in all the…

Where legitimate goods or services are supplied through contracts procured by corruption, the benefit for confiscation is not confined to the victim’s…

On an appeal relying on fresh evidence, the appellate court must assess the safety of the conviction for itself in the context of the whole trial. It must not…

On breach of a suspended sentence order by a further offence, Criminal Justice Act 2003, Schedule 12, paragraph 8 requires the court to activate the custodial…

An initial and less serious charging decision, corrected before the proceedings have concluded, does not by itself amount to exceptional circumstances…

A sentencing court may make a deprivation order for cash that is proved to be working capital intended for future drug dealing under Powers of Criminal Courts…

On an appeal against sentence, a possible over-reduction of credit for a guilty plea will not make a sentence manifestly excessive where, viewed in the round…

In a householder self-defence case under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, the jury must decide whether the force used was reasonable in the…

Whether planning is significant for sentencing purposes is a contextual assessment. A sexual assault may involve a significant degree of planning although it…

A failure to follow the charging practice described in R v Rimmington and Goldstein does not, without more, make a prosecution an abuse of process. A stay is…

A judge should leave the statutory partial defence of loss of control to a jury only where sufficient evidence permits a properly directed jury reasonably to…

A defendant who knowingly and voluntarily absents himself from a trial may waive the right to attend. The trial judge retains a discretion to proceed, to be…

For offences under sections 18 and 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, territoriality is satisfied where the defendant publishes material or uses words or…

Under Part 10 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, new and compelling evidence does not by itself justify quashing an acquittal. The court must also be satisfied…

In sentencing a serving police officer for perverting the course of public justice, the absence of a guideline requires a conventional assessment of harm and…

For serial, planned category 1 non-domestic burglaries committed professionally by an organised group, a sentence may properly exceed the guideline range where…

Fresh expert reconstruction evidence should not be admitted where it depends on factual foundations too imprecise and unreliable to permit a genuine…

Low-value shoplifting remains triable only summarily unless an adult defendant elects Crown Court trial. In deciding whether the £200 threshold is exceeded…

When sentencing a child or young person for robbery, a court may use the adult guideline as a cross-check where custody is unavoidable. It must nevertheless…

Where an offender repeatedly and deliberately breaches court orders, and prior custodial sentences have not deterred further offending, a sentencing court may…

A sentence for sustained, planned and sophisticated fraud will not be manifestly excessive where it falls within the applicable guideline range and reflects…

A trial judge’s decision to admit hearsay under section 114(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 will not readily be disturbed on appeal. Intervention…

When fixing a life-sentence minimum term, the court must assess the seriousness of attempted violence by reference to intended harm as well as injury actually…

A renewed application for leave to appeal sentence will fail where there is no arguable basis for contending that the sentence was excessive or manifestly…

Consecutive sentences may properly be imposed where offending comprises distinct strands, rather than a single course of conduct. The sentencing court must…

Where separate sexual offences against young and vulnerable complainants have caused significant harm, immediate custody may be unavoidable despite exceptional…

Where an offender commits a serious further offence while subject to a suspended sentence, immediate custody may be necessary even where there is strong…

No substantive legal proposition can be extracted. The supplied material states that the judgment was removed by order of the court on 11 August 2017.

A conviction appeal based on a later correction of the law of secondary liability succeeds only if the appellant shows substantial injustice. Where the jury’s…

Non-disclosure of sensitive covert-identification methodology does not render a criminal trial unfair where public interest immunity is properly established…

A guideline range directed to a single offence does not necessarily cap the proper total sentence for extensive multiple offending. The sentencing court must…

A defendant who is fit to stand trial and has received appropriate adjustments remains responsible, with legal advisers, for the conduct of the defence. A…

The safety of a conviction must be assessed by reference to the trial and summing-up as a whole. An ill-judged judicial intervention or adverse comment will…

For gross negligence manslaughter, the serious and obvious risk of death must be assessed objectively and prospectively at the time of the identified breach of…

A stay of criminal proceedings for abuse of process is exceptional and a remedy of last resort. The two limbs of the jurisdiction are legally distinct. Under…

Under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 section 13A, a compliance order containing a foreign-travel restriction need not be necessary. It must instead be appropriate…

Evidence must be relevant to a live issue before any route to admissibility arises. A collateral assertion bearing only remotely on a complainant’s credibility…

This amendment establishes detailed case-management directions for the pre-recording of cross-examination and re-examination under Youth Justice and Criminal…

In section 5(6) of the Domestic Violence, Crimes and Victims Act 2004, the words “or otherwise” create a third category of vulnerable adult. They cover a…

A later change in the law does not remove the need for exceptional leave merely because an appellant filed timely grounds on other matters. The appellant must…

Article 7 ECHR does not require a sentencing court to anticipate a more lenient statutory regime which Parliament has enacted but has not yet brought into…

In sentencing serious child sexual offences, the sentence must reflect the full criminality of multiple offences, including joint offending and the recording…

Where the common-law presumption of doli incapax applies, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the child knew the conduct was seriously…

A qualified identification remains admissible and probative evidence, but it cannot alone found a conviction. It may support, or be consistent with, other…

A trial judge need not rehearse every item of evidence or every submission in a summing up. The essential requirements are correct legal directions, an…

A sentencing court may depart, even radically, from the normal guideline range where an offender’s relevant record shows persistent offending and repeated…

Where facial-mapping or imagery evidence is relied upon, the jury must be directed to approach it with care. They should understand the limits of an expert…

Sentencing for drug supply involving cuckooing must remain within the Sentencing Council’s Drug Offences Guideline. The operation’s sophistication and…

There is no inherent unfairness in requiring proposed cross-examination questions to be approved in advance where a child or mentally disabled witness needs…

Where fresh psychiatric evidence is credible, relevant and could not with due diligence have been obtained at sentence, the Court of Appeal may admit it and…

For an offence of converting criminal property under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the property must already be criminal property before the alleged conversion.…

On an appeal against sentence, the ultimate question is whether the total sentence is manifestly excessive. Errors alleged in individual steps of guideline…

Evidence of a jury’s internal deliberations is inadmissible after discharge, save in the limited cases where the jury did not deliberate at all or were…

A court may not impose a custodial sentence merely to secure an offender’s release after a lengthy period on remand. Under Criminal Justice Act 2003, section…

A finding that an offender is dangerous may be justified by a sustained pattern of alcohol-fuelled violence, disregard of court orders and serious weapon…

A defendant who waits for service of the prosecution evidence before pleading guilty cannot ordinarily claim to have pleaded at the first reasonable…

An owner charged with breach of a planning enforcement notice may invoke the defence in section 179(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 only where…

Under section 23 of the Criminal Appeals Act 1968, fresh evidence should be received only where that is necessary or expedient in the interests of justice. The…

For blackmail, Criminal Justice Act 1993 sections 2 and 4 must be read together. A demand with menaces communicated from abroad to a recipient in England and…

For an offence under section 62(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the sentence should be commensurate with the preliminary offence actually committed, with…

In a circumstantial criminal case, a trial judge may leave the case to the jury where the combined evidence provides a sufficient basis on which a properly…

A jury may convict on an initially reported account despite later retractions or contradictions, where it is entitled to find the initial account truthful and…

In sentencing for causing death by careless driving, the court must identify the guideline category which most nearly matches the offence. It must then assess…

A conviction is not rendered unsafe by an alleged disclosure deficiency where the defendant could fairly advance the defence, including through admissions made…

Leave under section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 may properly be refused where the proposed questioning concerns consent but does not…

Sentencing for multiple dwelling-house burglaries must reflect a balanced assessment of all aggravating and mitigating features and the totality of the…

In sentencing for causing death by careless driving, the length of driving disqualification must be assessed as part of the sentence and ancillary orders as a…

A supply of drugs within prison by a prisoner is not automatically confined to harm category 4 merely because the supplier is not a prison employee. The…

For secondary liability, foresight that a principal might commit grievous bodily harm with intent is evidence from which intention to assist may be inferred.…

A restraining order under section 5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 cannot be used to prevent a competent adult from freely choosing to remain in a…

Sentencing judges must not rely on newspaper or online summaries of other sentencing decisions. Such material may be incomplete or inaccurate, whether or not a…

Under Criminal Appeal Act 1968, section 23, the decision whether to receive fresh evidence is distinct from the ultimate question whether that evidence makes a…

Under section 23 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, fresh evidence must satisfy each statutory condition. Evidence plainly available before trial will normally…

A submission of no case to answer fails where the evidence, taken at its highest, could properly permit a jury to find the essential element of the offence…

Where criminal proceedings for escape or absconding are already extant, an independent adjudicator must not continue a prison disciplinary adjudication for the…

The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) has a strictly exceptional implicit jurisdiction to re-open a final criminal appeal. It is confined in practice to a…

A private prosecutor is not barred in principle from pursuing confiscation or compensation. The court must decide whether the prosecutor may conduct that stage…

An apparent-bias challenge to a jury requires the court to ask whether a fair-minded and informed observer would see a real possibility of bias. A trial…

For an offender under 18 convicted of murder, Criminal Justice Act 2003, Schedule 21 provides a self-contained sentencing code. The 12-year starting point…

A judge must not induce a guilty plea by giving an unsolicited assurance of leniency. The safeguards in R v Goodyear [2005] 2 Cr App R 20 protect the…

Lifetime anonymity under Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 is automatic but qualified. Its protection does not prohibit reports of separate criminal…

A trial judge should leave an alternative verdict only where it is obviously raised by the evidence. Where no realistic alternative offence arises, a jury may…

Later criticism of an investigating officer in an unrelated prosecution does not, without an arguable evidential link to the earlier case, cast doubt on the…

When sentencing, the court should first weigh all aggravating and mitigating features to identify the proper sentence after trial. It should then apply credit…

On an appeal against sentence for breaches of a sexual offences prevention order, the appellate court must assess the totality of the custodial term. The…

Where a magistrates’ court had jurisdiction to commit an offender to the Crown Court, a clerical omission or inaccuracy in the memorandum of committal does not…

In sentencing a very large organisation for health and safety offences, culpability and the likelihood of harm must be assessed separately. A previous incident…

A represented defendant who unequivocally agrees the factual basis and figures for a confiscation order will ordinarily be bound by that agreement. An…

A court martial must take relevant sentencing guidelines into account, but may depart from them where features of service life or the service disciplinary…

When sentencing linked violent offences, the custodial term must reflect the overall seriousness of the offending. A court must take proper account of all…

Where a road-death case is properly charged as gross negligence manslaughter, the sentencing court may take an approach different from that for the statutory…

When sentencing an attempt involving an online decoy posing as a child, the absence of an actual child victim is not the sole measure of harm. It is…

A defendant with schizophrenia is not precluded from relying on diminished responsibility merely because voluntary intoxication triggered psychosis. The…

A witness’s visible distress does not, without more, establish that the witness has become vulnerable. When distress arises during evidence, the judge must…

A local authority may prosecute under Local Government Act 1972, section 222, only where it reasonably considers prosecution expedient for promoting or…

A communication is hearsay under Criminal Justice Act 2003 only if it is adduced to prove a matter stated and the maker intended, at least in part, to cause…

Possession of a knife does not, without more, establish its intentional use to threaten. Whether such an inference may be drawn depends on all the…

An extended sentence may properly be imposed where the statutory dangerousness assessment is supported by the gravity and pattern of the offending, relevant…

A sentencing court must not increase sentence for the local prevalence of offending merely because of the judge’s personal perception that there is too much…

Under the Burglary Offences Definitive Guideline (2011), a dwelling burglary should not be placed in the most serious category merely because cash was left in…

A criminal defendant is entitled to a fair trial irrespective of the apparent strength of the prosecution evidence. Judicial interventions must remain neutral.…

Judicial interventions render a conviction unsafe only where, viewed in the context of the trial as a whole, they prevent the defence from being properly…

Under the Sentencing Council Robbery Definitive Guidelines, the categories of less sophisticated commercial robbery and professionally planned commercial…

A late amendment to an indictment requires scrutiny proportionate to its timing and substance. An amendment made at the close of the prosecution case to defeat…

Under section 35 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, whether it is undesirable for an accused person to give evidence is a broad assessment of…

Extreme old age, diminished life expectancy and ill health are material mitigating factors because custody may be more onerous for an elderly offender. They…

An appellate court must determine whether a conviction is safe where an indictment contains an error. A purely technical or clerical error will not ordinarily…

A criminal prosecution of a defendant ends immediately upon that defendant’s death. Once the judge learns of the death, there is no discretion to take a…

Self-defence can in principle be a defence to dangerous or careless driving. It is available only where, on the particular facts, the alleged driving itself…

Adverse publicity does not itself require a jury to be discharged. The trial judge must decide whether, with clear and firm directions, the jury can still…

For stalking, harassment is not established merely because conduct causes alarm or distress. The conduct must cross the boundary from unattractive or…

In sentencing drug conspiracies, a judge may draw evidence-based inferences about quantities trafficked beyond those actually seized, provided speculation is…

Under section 23 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, fresh evidence should be received only where the statutory conditions are met. The applicant must show that…

A defence which alleges that prosecution witnesses fabricated allegations, conspired to lie, or previously lied to the police goes beyond a mere denial of…

For robbery sentencing, a case cannot properly be placed in the lowest harm category where the victim suffered more than minimal psychological harm or the…

When determining whether court material should be disclosed to the media, the court must balance open justice and the media’s rights under European Convention…

Sentencing for manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility requires an evaluative assessment of the murder sentencing framework, harm, residual…

A loss-of-control defence requires evidence capable of establishing both a qualifying trigger and the objective statutory standard. A grievance is not…

A court may impose a Sexual Harm Prevention Order only for an offence within the statutory qualifying scheme. A breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order is…

Where a defendant puts remorse in issue, the timing of guilty pleas may be explored, but the trial judge should confine the evidence to matters relevant to…

The seriousness of manslaughter is assessed by reference to culpability and harm. Although death is always the gravest harm, culpability varies widely.…

For diminished responsibility under the Homicide Act 1957, impairment is substantial when it is important, weighty, significant and appreciable. It is not…

An offender who absconds cannot require confiscation proceedings under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to be deferred until he returns. The Act does not preclude…

On a sentencing appeal, the question is whether the appellant’s own sentence was manifestly excessive. A disparity with co-offenders does not establish error…

A defendant’s involuntary absence through ill health does not automatically render a criminal trial unfair. In a rare and exceptional case, the trial may…

Where a witness does not attend through genuine fear, a judge may admit the witness’s statements under section 116 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 if…

For sentencing a money-laundering offence under section 327 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, harm is initially assessed by the full value of the laundering…

For the prison-conveyance offences under the Prison Act 1952, the prosecution must prove that the defendant knew that he was taking something prohibited into…

For sentencing under Criminal Justice Act 2003, a murder may contain an element of gain where the offender kills to avoid the financial loss flowing from the…

When sentencing an offender for drug offences committed under the age of 18, the court must give sufficient weight to youth and to background circumstances…

A sentencing court must assess culpability for causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult by reference to all the circumstances. A conviction…

In sentencing participants in a serious drugs-importation conspiracy, the starting point must reflect material differences in their roles, culpability…

Following a jury trial, the sentencing judge must sentence on the only factual interpretation consistent with the verdict if there is one. If several…

A sentencing court may use the statutory slip-rule power to correct a material error of fact or law in the sentencing process. It must not use that power…

An unqualified third party has no general right to address the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). Although the court may exceptionally grant a right of…

Under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010, regulatory functions for a waste-recovery operation belong to the Environment Agency…

For a dangerousness assessment, a court may give substantial weight to repeated serious sexual offending, offending while on bail, victims’ vulnerability, an…

An earlier acquittal is ordinarily irrelevant and inadmissible at a later trial. A narrow exception arises where the credibility of a prosecution witness is in…

Where a defendant participates in a serious and sophisticated fraud and separately launders its proceeds, the laundering may properly be treated as an…

A co-accused’s guilty plea may fairly be admitted under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 where it is used only to establish that an offence occurred, that…

A bank answering the LIBOR question was under a legal obligation to provide its genuine assessment of its borrowing rate. A rate deliberately adjusted to…

A refusal of leave to appeal is not a decision of the Court of Appeal on an appeal for the purposes of section 33 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968. The court…

Under section 6 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, a confiscation order remains mandatory once the statutory conditions are met, save to the extent that…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal against conviction, leave should be granted where there is an arguable challenge to the legal basis on which…

A sentence imposed within the applicable fraud guideline will not be arguable as manifestly excessive where the judge properly identifies high culpability…

A trial may proceed in an accused’s absence where the trial judge is entitled, on the available medical and contemporaneous evidence, to find that the accused…

A high-probability DNA match on an item at the scene of a crime can, without other supporting evidence, establish a case to answer. There is no legal or…

Secondary liability for robbery in a joint enterprise requires proof that robbery was within the scope of the participants’ shared plan. Foresight that another…

At the close of the prosecution case, the question is whether, taking that case at its highest, a properly directed reasonable jury could draw the inferences…

Evidence of bad character may be admitted as important explanatory evidence under section 101(1)(c) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 where, without it, the…

Sentencing for unlawful distribution of copyright-infringing articles requires an individual assessment of the offending and the offender. Relevant…

Evidence of domestic violence may be admissible under Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 101(1)(d), where it is capable of proving a propensity to excessive…

A single count may allege numerous incidents of the same offence where, taken together, they constitute a course of conduct under Criminal Procedure Rules rule…

Under section 14 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the question whether exceptional circumstances justify postponement beyond two years from conviction…

In a post-conviction appeal based on fresh evidence, a contested claim for disclosure, including a claim of public interest immunity, may be determined by a…

For conduct predating Modern Slavery Act 2015, the established common-law, prosecutorial and abuse-of-process regime remains the means by which the United…

In assessing whether a recorded communication is hearsay, the court must identify the matter to be proved, decide whether the communication states that matter…

Criminal conspiracy requires an agreement between at least two people. A participant need not have met, contacted or known the identity of every other…

In assessing an offender’s role under the drug-offences guideline, the sentencing court must balance all relevant characteristics. A significant role may be…

Where the defendant wholly denies sexual conduct, a trial judge may identify the occurrence of the alleged acts as the principal factual issue. The judge must…

Non-statistical DNA evidence may be admitted where it has a sufficiently reliable scientific basis, but the jury must be clearly directed on its limited and…

Under section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957, the ability to form a rational judgment is an open-ended statutory question. It is not confined to appreciating…

A logical inconsistency between jury verdicts does not, by itself, make a conviction unsafe. The appellant must show that the verdicts are so irreconcilable…

Sentences for conspiracy to kidnap are highly fact-sensitive. In the absence of a sentencing guideline, decisions in other cases ordinarily provide only…

A third party’s later confession will not justify admitting fresh evidence or disturbing a conviction unless it is capable of belief. Where the proposed…

Where lawful and in the interests of justice, criminal courts should use live-link and telephone facilities to manage cases actively. Facilities must be…

For racial aggravation under section 28(1)(a) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the person towards whom hostility is demonstrated must be the victim of the…

Where an adult is sentenced for an offence committed as a child, European Convention on Human Rights Article 7 requires the sentence to remain within the…

In sentencing offences involving indecent images of children, the applicable category is determined by the most serious images unless those images are…

For joinder under Criminal Procedure Rules, offences need not have the same legal classification or be exactly alike. The court must identify their true and…

Where a vulnerable complainant has communication difficulties, a trial judge may control the presentation of prior inconsistent accounts. The evidence must…

A correction in the judicial understanding of the law does not, without more, justify an exceptional extension of time to appeal against conviction. The…

In criminal-lifestyle confiscation proceedings, the statutory assumption concerning property transferred to a defendant does not arise unless the Crown first…

Where a young offender is sentenced in the Crown Court, Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, section 8(2), requires remittal to the relevant Youth…

Where an adult elects trial in the Crown Court, the six-month summary sentencing limit for low-value shoplifting under the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 does…

An admissibility issue finally determined on an interlocutory appeal cannot be reopened on an appeal against conviction. Once evidence is lawfully admitted…

A sentencing court may not treat ordinary counts as specimen or multiple-incident counts and increase sentence for further, unadmitted offending. Where the…

For an offence under section 4(3)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, supplying has a broad meaning. It covers the entire process of supply and does not…