Sentencing for breach of a sex offender order should follow the principles set down in ASBO cases. If the breach does not involve any real or obvious risk to the public, a community penalty may be appropriate, although repeated breaches will necessarily involve a custodial sentence. Any breach which does create a real or obvious risk the public must inevitably be treated more seriously and multiple or repeated breaches may well justify sentences that might otherwise have been considered far high ...
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D had been acquitted of murder. Following that acquittal he confessed to that murder and was subsequently convicted of perjury. Following a change in the law (CJA 2003) he was retried for murder. He argued that he would not have made such an admission if he had known that he might face retrial (the law not being on the statute book at the time) and therefore it was not in the interests of justice for him to be retried. Held: The public would rightly be outraged were the exception to the double j ...
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Where D enters an unequivocal guilty plea which the court accepts, he is "proved guilty according to law" within the meaning of Article 6(2) ECHR. The presumption of innocence ceases to apply and he can be sentenced on the basis that he has been proved guilty.
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The rules governing disclosure in civil actions and criminal trials could not be applied to extradition proceedings. A judge who had reason to believe that an abuse of process might have occurred in extradition proceedings should call upon the requesting authority or state to provide the necessary information or evidence for determining whether such an abuse had occurred. If fairness required that that material should be disclosed, but the requesting authority or state would not agree to such a ...
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The judge, in the course of Ds’ trial for two counts of conspiracy connected with the laundering of fuel and the laundering of the proceeds of that primary conspiracy, had been entitled to permit the prosecution to adduce and rely on evidence which contained a series of witness statements and documentary evidence arising out of separate investigations by HM Customs & Excise.
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A sentence of 6 years’ imprisonment for burglary was justified. There had been a forced night-time entry and D had seriously injured the victim. The fact that a co-accused received a lesser sentence than was merited was not reason to lower the sentence in this case.
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Where a count under section 5 Firearms Act 1968 attracting sentence has been properly included on an indictment and there is no defence to it, a plea should be taken. That is because Parliament has identified s.5 for a minimum sentence under s.51A. It was not appropriate for counsel to invite the court to order that the count lie on the file and at the same time invite the court in some way to adopt the minimum sentence nonetheless.
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Criminal Appeal against Extension of 12 month Time
The appellant appealed against a decision of a sheriff to grant the Crown an extension under section 65(3) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 of the period of twelve months within which to prosecute him on three charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices. The 5 bench court here considered whether the 2 stage test outlined in HM Adv v Swift, 1984 JC 83, should continue to apply. The test was:- (1) the court had to consider whether the Crown had shown a reason that might be suff ...
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An appeal against a sentence of 8 weeks imprisonment for contempt of court. As the verdict against her son was read out, the Defendant swore and shouted “I’ll get you back”, which the judge took to be directed to the jury. She later apologised to the court. In varying the sentence to 20 days the CA said it was a serious contempt but considering the facts and her good character 8 weeks was manifestly excessive.
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Criminal Note of Appeal Against Conviction - Provo
On 15 May 1998 the appellant was found guilty by a majority verdict on the following charge:- "(5) on 13 January 1998, in a lane between 36 and 38 Balbardie Crescent, Bathgate, you did assault Gary George Allan Johnstone, aged 25 years, 77 Balbardie Avenue, Bathgate and strike him repeatedly on the head, face and body with a spade and you did murder him and you did previously evince malice and ill-will towards him." The appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment, to run from 13 January 1998. O ...
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