Jim Meyer is a rated criminal defence solicitor who specialises in defending clients who are accused of rape. Jim has successfully defended numerous clients facing such allegations, and his experience shows that what is required is an early, proactive response. It is not good enough to simply sit back and wait (hope) for the police to do their job and realise they've made a terrible mistake. No! If you can afford to hire Jim you need to act fast and ensure that:
- Any and all evidence is secured, whether that be:
- In the form of tracing and interviewing witnesses; or
- Recovering physical evidence such as CCTV footage, social media and other digital or analogue interaction and communication.
- Alibis should be identified and supporting evidence collected.
- Potential alternative suspects should be looked into, if necessary with the assistance a private investigator.
- Where appropriate, scientific experts should be consulted and retained, even if this is to simply secure or conflict out a leader in the particular field.
Only when the picture has become clear should consideration be given to disclosing the product of such investigations to the police; this may be early on to expose the reality of the situation, or it may be much later, at or near-trial. The question of what is disclosed, and when, is of crucial tactical importance and Jim's experience will ensure this is done with maximum effect.
Rape complainants do lie
It is a sad fact that complainants do lie. What motivates them to do this is complicated and obviously fact specific but there is no doubt that this does happen. Sometimes a complainant is seeking to gain materially, or is using the allegation to cover up other behaviour. Perhaps the motivation is revenge, or a need for attention and / or sympathy. It could be that the complainant is mentally disturbed or a pathological liar, or may simply be relabeling consensual sex as rape or assault because of disappointment, shame, and / or regret.
Rape victims do mistakenly identify their attacker
Sexual assault victims can and do erroneously identify their attackers; honest witnesses can still be mistaken but the problem is that jurors give very strong credence to eyewitness testimony, particularly where the witness is resolute in believing their identification of the suspect is correct. Defendants must do more than simply assert the “Shaggy Defence” of “it wasn’t me” and a suspect can still be charged in the absence of scientific or other physical evidence. A bald assertion that “someone else did it” will not be enough.
Complainants do mistakenly but honestly believe they have been raped
It sounds implausible but there are cases where complainants honestly but mistakenly believe they have been sexually assaulted,, with false memories leading to terrible miscarriages of justice. To avoid the innocent being convicted it is essential to understand and expose the fickle nature of human memory. False memories may be a result of recovered memory therapy or because of confabulation and / or memory conformity, where the complainant’s memories are distorted and influenced by information reported by others. The fact is that memory errors can occur, and it is entirely possible for a complainant’s memory to be shaped by molding his/her or another’s actual past experiences to create a fictitious perceived past – the so-called memory illusion. These sorts of allegations are very difficult to defend – the complainant honestly believes (s)he has been raped and often makes a compelling and credible witness.
How much will it cost?
If you instruct Jim, probably the first thing you will realise is that he is a straight-talking lawyer who provides honest and frank advice without any "BS". The same is also true about what he will tell you in relation to how much it will likely cost you to hire him, and he aims to be completely transparent about what he charges, what this pays for and how this compares to a lawyer being remunerated under legal aid. Jim believes this is the only way his clients can make a sensible, informed decision on how to proceed.
Jim has compiled a database of historical bills for matters in a single financial year to help him estimate how much a case will cost. Looking at this data there are 2,067 cases1 where:
- The main allegation was rape,
- There was a single defendant, who
- Pleaded not guilty, and
- Was subseqently tried before a jury in the Crown Court.
Based on this information, Jim's advice is:
- The prosecution evidence in a typical case alleging rape normally runs to approximately 303 pages (note that this does not include CCTV, multi-media or digital evidence; nor does it include any unused material served by the prosecution [i.e. material which the prosecution believes may undermine its case or assist the case for the accused] or any evidence collected by the defence); the minimum number of pages was recorded as 15 and the maximum was 10,628;
- A crown court trial where there is a single defendant and the main allegation is rape will normally comprise 18 prosecution witnesses and last around 6 days (the lowest number of witnesses recorded was 2 and the most was 182; the shortest trial recorded was 1 and the longest was 92);
- For a trial lasting 6 days with 18 witnesses and a similar page count of 303 pages, Jim estimates the total cost (including VAT and the advocates fee but excluding any other disbursements) will be in the range of 85860 to 117900. This compares to the typical fee2 of 10900 paid to the legal team under legal aid.
Pages of Material | Days in Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 day | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days | 5 days | 6 days | 7 days | 8 days | 9 days | 10 days | 11 days | 12 days | 13 days | 14 days | 15 days | 16 days | 17 days | 18 days | 19 days | 20 days | 21 days | 22 days | 23 days | 24 days | 25 days | ||||||
1 - 50 | 17980 - 22720 | 30700 - 39640 | 43420 - 56560 | 56140 - 73480 | 68860 - 90400 | 62160 - 87900 | 71760 - 101700 | 81360 - 115500 | 90960 - 129300 | 100560 - 143100 | 110160 - 156900 | 119760 - 170700 | 129360 - 184500 | 138960 - 198300 | 148560 - 212100 | 158160 - 225900 | 167760 - 239700 | 177360 - 253500 | 186960 - 267300 | 196560 - 281100 | 206160 - 294900 | 215760 - 308700 | 225360 - 322500 | 234960 - 336300 | 244560 - 350100 | |||||
51 - 100 | 23320 - 29120 | 36040 - 46040 | 48760 - 62960 | 61480 - 79880 | 74200 - 96800 | 66100 - 92900 | 75700 - 106700 | 85300 - 120500 | 94900 - 134300 | 104500 - 148100 | 114100 - 161900 | 123700 - 175700 | 133300 - 189500 | 142900 - 203300 | 152500 - 217100 | 162100 - 230900 | 171700 - 244700 | 181300 - 258500 | 190900 - 272300 | 200500 - 286100 | 210100 - 299900 | 219700 - 313700 | 229300 - 327500 | 238900 - 341300 | 248500 - 355100 | |||||
101 - 150 | 28680 - 35520 | 41400 - 52440 | 54120 - 69360 | 66840 - 86280 | 79560 - 103200 | 70060 - 97900 | 79660 - 111700 | 89260 - 125500 | 98860 - 139300 | 108460 - 153100 | 118060 - 166900 | 127660 - 180700 | 137260 - 194500 | 146860 - 208300 | 156460 - 222100 | 166060 - 235900 | 175660 - 249700 | 185260 - 263500 | 194860 - 277300 | 204460 - 291100 | 214060 - 304900 | 223660 - 318700 | 233260 - 332500 | 242860 - 346300 | 252460 - 360100 | |||||
151 - 200 | 34020 - 41920 | 46740 - 58840 | 59460 - 75760 | 72180 - 92680 | 84900 - 109600 | 74000 - 102900 | 83600 - 116700 | 93200 - 130500 | 102800 - 144300 | 112400 - 158100 | 122000 - 171900 | 131600 - 185700 | 141200 - 199500 | 150800 - 213300 | 160400 - 227100 | 170000 - 240900 | 179600 - 254700 | 189200 - 268500 | 198800 - 282300 | 208400 - 296100 | 218000 - 309900 | 227600 - 323700 | 237200 - 337500 | 246800 - 351300 | 256400 - 365100 | |||||
201 - 250 | 39380 - 48320 | 52100 - 65240 | 64820 - 82160 | 77540 - 99080 | 90260 - 116000 | 77960 - 107900 | 87560 - 121700 | 97160 - 135500 | 106760 - 149300 | 116360 - 163100 | 125960 - 176900 | 135560 - 190700 | 145160 - 204500 | 154760 - 218300 | 164360 - 232100 | 173960 - 245900 | 183560 - 259700 | 193160 - 273500 | 202760 - 287300 | 212360 - 301100 | 221960 - 314900 | 231560 - 328700 | 241160 - 342500 | 250760 - 356300 | 260360 - 370100 | |||||
251 - 300 | 44720 - 54720 | 57440 - 71640 | 70160 - 88560 | 82880 - 105480 | 95600 - 122400 | 81900 - 112900 | 91500 - 126700 | 101100 - 140500 | 110700 - 154300 | 120300 - 168100 | 129900 - 181900 | 139500 - 195700 | 149100 - 209500 | 158700 - 223300 | 168300 - 237100 | 177900 - 250900 | 187500 - 264700 | 197100 - 278500 | 206700 - 292300 | 216300 - 306100 | 225900 - 319900 | 235500 - 333700 | 245100 - 347500 | 254700 - 361300 | 264300 - 375100 | |||||
301 - 350 | 50080 - 61120 | 62800 - 78040 | 75520 - 94960 | 88240 - 111880 | 100960 - 128800 | 85860 - 117900 | 95460 - 131700 | 105060 - 145500 | 114660 - 159300 | 124260 - 173100 | 133860 - 186900 | 143460 - 200700 | 153060 - 214500 | 162660 - 228300 | 172260 - 242100 | 181860 - 255900 | 191460 - 269700 | 201060 - 283500 | 210660 - 297300 | 220260 - 311100 | 229860 - 324900 | 239460 - 338700 | 249060 - 352500 | 258660 - 366300 | 268260 - 380100 | |||||
351 - 400 | 55420 - 67520 | 68140 - 84440 | 80860 - 101360 | 93580 - 118280 | 106300 - 135200 | 89800 - 122900 | 99400 - 136700 | 109000 - 150500 | 118600 - 164300 | 128200 - 178100 | 137800 - 191900 | 147400 - 205700 | 157000 - 219500 | 166600 - 233300 | 176200 - 247100 | 185800 - 260900 | 195400 - 274700 | 205000 - 288500 | 214600 - 302300 | 224200 - 316100 | 233800 - 329900 | 243400 - 343700 | 253000 - 357500 | 262600 - 371300 | 272200 - 385100 | |||||
401 - 450 | 60780 - 73920 | 73500 - 90840 | 86220 - 107760 | 98940 - 124680 | 111660 - 141600 | 93760 - 127900 | 103360 - 141700 | 112960 - 155500 | 122560 - 169300 | 132160 - 183100 | 141760 - 196900 | 151360 - 210700 | 160960 - 224500 | 170560 - 238300 | 180160 - 252100 | 189760 - 265900 | 199360 - 279700 | 208960 - 293500 | 218560 - 307300 | 228160 - 321100 | 237760 - 334900 | 247360 - 348700 | 256960 - 362500 | 266560 - 376300 | 276160 - 390100 | |||||
451 - 500 | 66120 - 80320 | 78840 - 97240 | 91560 - 114160 | 104280 - 131080 | 117000 - 148000 | 97700 - 132900 | 107300 - 146700 | 116900 - 160500 | 126500 - 174300 | 136100 - 188100 | 145700 - 201900 | 155300 - 215700 | 164900 - 229500 | 174500 - 243300 | 184100 - 257100 | 193700 - 270900 | 203300 - 284700 | 212900 - 298500 | 222500 - 312300 | 232100 - 326100 | 241700 - 339900 | 251300 - 353700 | 260900 - 367500 | 270500 - 381300 | 280100 - 395100 | |||||
501-1,000 | 71420 - 91380 | 81020 - 105180 | 90620 - 118980 | 100220 - 132780 | 109820 - 146580 | 111620 - 152580 | 113420 - 158580 | 115220 - 164580 | 117020 - 170580 | 118820 - 176580 | 120620 - 182580 | 122420 - 188580 | 124220 - 194580 | 126020 - 200580 | 127820 - 206580 | 129620 - 212580 | 131420 - 218580 | 133220 - 224580 | 135020 - 230580 | 136820 - 236580 | 138620 - 242580 | 140420 - 248580 | 142220 - 254580 | 144020 - 260580 | 145820 - 266580 | |||||
1,001-1,500 | 110920 - 141380 | 120520 - 155180 | 130120 - 168980 | 139720 - 182780 | 149320 - 196580 | 151120 - 202580 | 152920 - 208580 | 154720 - 214580 | 156520 - 220580 | 158320 - 226580 | 160120 - 232580 | 161920 - 238580 | 163720 - 244580 | 165520 - 250580 | 167320 - 256580 | 169120 - 262580 | 170920 - 268580 | 172720 - 274580 | 174520 - 280580 | 176320 - 286580 | 178120 - 292580 | 179920 - 298580 | 181720 - 304580 | 183520 - 310580 | 185320 - 316580 | |||||
1,501-2,000 | 150420 - 191380 | 160020 - 205180 | 169620 - 218980 | 179220 - 232780 | 188820 - 246580 | 190620 - 252580 | 192420 - 258580 | 194220 - 264580 | 196020 - 270580 | 197820 - 276580 | 199620 - 282580 | 201420 - 288580 | 203220 - 294580 | 205020 - 300580 | 206820 - 306580 | 208620 - 312580 | 210420 - 318580 | 212220 - 324580 | 214020 - 330580 | 215820 - 336580 | 217620 - 342580 | 219420 - 348580 | 221220 - 354580 | 223020 - 360580 | 224820 - 366580 | |||||
2,001-2,500 | 189920 - 241380 | 199520 - 255180 | 209120 - 268980 | 218720 - 282780 | 228320 - 296580 | 230120 - 302580 | 231920 - 308580 | 233720 - 314580 | 235520 - 320580 | 237320 - 326580 | 239120 - 332580 | 240920 - 338580 | 242720 - 344580 | 244520 - 350580 | 246320 - 356580 | 248120 - 362580 | 249920 - 368580 | 251720 - 374580 | 253520 - 380580 | 255320 - 386580 | 257120 - 392580 | 258920 - 398580 | 260720 - 404580 | 262520 - 410580 | 264320 - 416580 | |||||
2,501-3,000 | 229420 - 291380 | 239020 - 305180 | 248620 - 318980 | 258220 - 332780 | 267820 - 346580 | 269620 - 352580 | 271420 - 358580 | 273220 - 364580 | 275020 - 370580 | 276820 - 376580 | 278620 - 382580 | 280420 - 388580 | 282220 - 394580 | 284020 - 400580 | 285820 - 406580 | 287620 - 412580 | 289420 - 418580 | 291220 - 424580 | 293020 - 430580 | 294820 - 436580 | 296620 - 442580 | 298420 - 448580 | 300220 - 454580 | 302020 - 460580 | 303820 - 466580 | |||||
3,001-3,500 | 268920 - 341380 | 278520 - 355180 | 288120 - 368980 | 297720 - 382780 | 307320 - 396580 | 309120 - 402580 | 310920 - 408580 | 312720 - 414580 | 314520 - 420580 | 316320 - 426580 | 318120 - 432580 | 319920 - 438580 | 321720 - 444580 | 323520 - 450580 | 325320 - 456580 | 327120 - 462580 | 328920 - 468580 | 330720 - 474580 | 332520 - 480580 | 334320 - 486580 | 336120 - 492580 | 337920 - 498580 | 339720 - 504580 | 341520 - 510580 | 343320 - 516580 | |||||
3,501-4,000 | 308420 - 391380 | 318020 - 405180 | 327620 - 418980 | 337220 - 432780 | 346820 - 446580 | 348620 - 452580 | 350420 - 458580 | 352220 - 464580 | 354020 - 470580 | 355820 - 476580 | 357620 - 482580 | 359420 - 488580 | 361220 - 494580 | 363020 - 500580 | 364820 - 506580 | 366620 - 512580 | 368420 - 518580 | 370220 - 524580 | 372020 - 530580 | 373820 - 536580 | 375620 - 542580 | 377420 - 548580 | 379220 - 554580 | 381020 - 560580 | 382820 - 566580 | |||||
4,001-4,500 | 347920 - 441380 | 357520 - 455180 | 367120 - 468980 | 376720 - 482780 | 386320 - 496580 | 388120 - 502580 | 389920 - 508580 | 391720 - 514580 | 393520 - 520580 | 395320 - 526580 | 397120 - 532580 | 398920 - 538580 | 400720 - 544580 | 402520 - 550580 | 404320 - 556580 | 406120 - 562580 | 407920 - 568580 | 409720 - 574580 | 411520 - 580580 | 413320 - 586580 | 415120 - 592580 | 416920 - 598580 | 418720 - 604580 | 420520 - 610580 | 422320 - 616580 | |||||
4,501-5,000 | 387420 - 491380 | 397020 - 505180 | 406620 - 518980 | 416220 - 532780 | 425820 - 546580 | 427620 - 552580 | 429420 - 558580 | 431220 - 564580 | 433020 - 570580 | 434820 - 576580 | 436620 - 582580 | 438420 - 588580 | 440220 - 594580 | 442020 - 600580 | 443820 - 606580 | 445620 - 612580 | 447420 - 618580 | 449220 - 624580 | 451020 - 630580 | 452820 - 636580 | 454620 - 642580 | 456420 - 648580 | 458220 - 654580 | 460020 - 660580 | 461820 - 666580 | |||||
5,001-5,500 | 426920 - 541380 | 436520 - 555180 | 446120 - 568980 | 455720 - 582780 | 465320 - 596580 | 467120 - 602580 | 468920 - 608580 | 470720 - 614580 | 472520 - 620580 | 474320 - 626580 | 476120 - 632580 | 477920 - 638580 | 479720 - 644580 | 481520 - 650580 | 483320 - 656580 | 485120 - 662580 | 486920 - 668580 | 488720 - 674580 | 490520 - 680580 | 492320 - 686580 | 494120 - 692580 | 495920 - 698580 | 497720 - 704580 | 499520 - 710580 | 501320 - 716580 | |||||
5,501-6,000 | 466420 - 591380 | 476020 - 605180 | 485620 - 618980 | 495220 - 632780 | 504820 - 646580 | 506620 - 652580 | 508420 - 658580 | 510220 - 664580 | 512020 - 670580 | 513820 - 676580 | 515620 - 682580 | 517420 - 688580 | 519220 - 694580 | 521020 - 700580 | 522820 - 706580 | 524620 - 712580 | 526420 - 718580 | 528220 - 724580 | 530020 - 730580 | 531820 - 736580 | 533620 - 742580 | 535420 - 748580 | 537220 - 754580 | 539020 - 760580 | 540820 - 766580 | |||||
6,001-6,500 | 505920 - 641380 | 515520 - 655180 | 525120 - 668980 | 534720 - 682780 | 544320 - 696580 | 546120 - 702580 | 547920 - 708580 | 549720 - 714580 | 551520 - 720580 | 553320 - 726580 | 555120 - 732580 | 556920 - 738580 | 558720 - 744580 | 560520 - 750580 | 562320 - 756580 | 564120 - 762580 | 565920 - 768580 | 567720 - 774580 | 569520 - 780580 | 571320 - 786580 | 573120 - 792580 | 574920 - 798580 | 576720 - 804580 | 578520 - 810580 | 580320 - 816580 | |||||
6,501-7,000 | 545420 - 691380 | 555020 - 705180 | 564620 - 718980 | 574220 - 732780 | 583820 - 746580 | 585620 - 752580 | 587420 - 758580 | 589220 - 764580 | 591020 - 770580 | 592820 - 776580 | 594620 - 782580 | 596420 - 788580 | 598220 - 794580 | 600020 - 800580 | 601820 - 806580 | 603620 - 812580 | 605420 - 818580 | 607220 - 824580 | 609020 - 830580 | 610820 - 836580 | 612620 - 842580 | 614420 - 848580 | 616220 - 854580 | 618020 - 860580 | 619820 - 866580 | |||||
7,001-7,500 | 584920 - 741380 | 594520 - 755180 | 604120 - 768980 | 613720 - 782780 | 623320 - 796580 | 625120 - 802580 | 626920 - 808580 | 628720 - 814580 | 630520 - 820580 | 632320 - 826580 | 634120 - 832580 | 635920 - 838580 | 637720 - 844580 | 639520 - 850580 | 641320 - 856580 | 643120 - 862580 | 644920 - 868580 | 646720 - 874580 | 648520 - 880580 | 650320 - 886580 | 652120 - 892580 | 653920 - 898580 | 655720 - 904580 | 657520 - 910580 | 659320 - 916580 | |||||
7,501-8,000 | 624420 - 791380 | 634020 - 805180 | 643620 - 818980 | 653220 - 832780 | 662820 - 846580 | 664620 - 852580 | 666420 - 858580 | 668220 - 864580 | 670020 - 870580 | 671820 - 876580 | 673620 - 882580 | 675420 - 888580 | 677220 - 894580 | 679020 - 900580 | 680820 - 906580 | 682620 - 912580 | 684420 - 918580 | 686220 - 924580 | 688020 - 930580 | 689820 - 936580 | 691620 - 942580 | 693420 - 948580 | 695220 - 954580 | 697020 - 960580 | 698820 - 966580 | |||||
8,001-8,500 | 663920 - 841380 | 673520 - 855180 | 683120 - 868980 | 692720 - 882780 | 702320 - 896580 | 704120 - 902580 | 705920 - 908580 | 707720 - 914580 | 709520 - 920580 | 711320 - 926580 | 713120 - 932580 | 714920 - 938580 | 716720 - 944580 | 718520 - 950580 | 720320 - 956580 | 722120 - 962580 | 723920 - 968580 | 725720 - 974580 | 727520 - 980580 | 729320 - 986580 | 731120 - 992580 | 732920 - 998580 | 734720 - 1004580 | 736520 - 1010580 | 738320 - 1016580 | |||||
8,501-9,000 | 703420 - 891380 | 713020 - 905180 | 722620 - 918980 | 732220 - 932780 | 741820 - 946580 | 743620 - 952580 | 745420 - 958580 | 747220 - 964580 | 749020 - 970580 | 750820 - 976580 | 752620 - 982580 | 754420 - 988580 | 756220 - 994580 | 758020 - 1000580 | 759820 - 1006580 | 761620 - 1012580 | 763420 - 1018580 | 765220 - 1024580 | 767020 - 1030580 | 768820 - 1036580 | 770620 - 1042580 | 772420 - 1048580 | 774220 - 1054580 | 776020 - 1060580 | 777820 - 1066580 | |||||
9,001-9,500 | 742920 - 941380 | 752520 - 955180 | 762120 - 968980 | 771720 - 982780 | 781320 - 996580 | 783120 - 1002580 | 784920 - 1008580 | 786720 - 1014580 | 788520 - 1020580 | 790320 - 1026580 | 792120 - 1032580 | 793920 - 1038580 | 795720 - 1044580 | 797520 - 1050580 | 799320 - 1056580 | 801120 - 1062580 | 802920 - 1068580 | 804720 - 1074580 | 806520 - 1080580 | 808320 - 1086580 | 810120 - 1092580 | 811920 - 1098580 | 813720 - 1104580 | 815520 - 1110580 | 817320 - 1116580 | |||||
9,501-10,000 | 782420 - 991380 | 792020 - 1005180 | 801620 - 1018980 | 811220 - 1032780 | 820820 - 1046580 | 822620 - 1052580 | 824420 - 1058580 | 826220 - 1064580 | 828020 - 1070580 | 829820 - 1076580 | 831620 - 1082580 | 833420 - 1088580 | 835220 - 1094580 | 837020 - 1100580 | 838820 - 1106580 | 840620 - 1112580 | 842420 - 1118580 | 844220 - 1124580 | 846020 - 1130580 | 847820 - 1136580 | 849620 - 1142580 | 851420 - 1148580 | 853220 - 1154580 | 855020 - 1160580 | 856820 - 1166580 |
1 Note that this doesn't represent all of the data on historical cases; in order to try to provide a "like-for-like" comparison it is restricted to cases where there was a single client and the matter was tried in the crown court. This will give you a general idea but obviously Jim will be able to advise you on the specifics of your particular case and the impact this may have on the likely cost. ↩
2 This is an approximation. There are calculators available on the MOJ's website which can help you work out the fee claimable under the scheme, excluding any additional payment made for "special preparation".↩
Relevant case law in relation to rape
[2021] EWCA Crim 1877
CA (Crim Div) (Thirlwall LJ; Holgate J; Murray J)
10 December 2021
[2021] EWCA Crim 1720
CA (Crim Div) (Thirlwall LJ; Andrew Baker J; Thornton J)
19 November 2021
[2021] EWCA Crim 1664
CA (Crim Div) (Garnham J; Judge Potter; Singh LJ)
10 November 2021
[2021] NIQB 74
QBD (NI) (Scoffield J)
31 August 2021
[2021] EWCA Crim 318
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Spencer J, Bourne J)
25 February 2021
An offender accused of raping his former wife during their marriage had not been wrongly precluded from putting questions to her in cross-examination concerning her sexuality. Although sexual orientation or sexual identification could, in the circumstances of the case, constitute "sexual behaviour" for the purposes of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41, the proposed questioning was generalised and its main purpose was to undermine the complainant's credibility.
[2020] EWCA Crim 1676
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Burnett LCJ, Dame Victoria Sharp PQBD, Fulford J, Choudhury J, Cutts J)
11 December 2020
A whole life term of imprisonment was not justified in two of the most serious multiple rape cases ever tried in England and Wales. While a whole life term could be attached to a discretionary life sentence, there was a principled reason for reserving the most serious sentences to cases of murder, except in the most exceptional circumstances. The court increased the minimum term from 30 to 40 years' imprisonment for the offenders; each had merited a notional term of 60 years and a custodial period of two-thirds was required for the punishment of their unique crimes.
[2020] EWCA Crim 1343
CA (Crim Div) (Bean LJ, Robin Knowles J, Judge Aubrey QC)
19 October 2020
A judge correctly ruled that video footage showing an unknown adolescent male who remained motionless with his face covered while sexual activity was performed on him could amount to a sexual assault. It had been for the jury to decide whether the unknown male had been genuinely consenting, and the judge had correctly admitted expert evidence on the likely age of the unknown male to rebut the defence case that he had had been a willing adult participant.
[2020] EWCA Crim 1247
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Spencer J, Judge Potter)
1 October 2020
A conviction for a historic count of rape was not unsafe despite serious shortcomings with disclosure of unused material. The judge had been entitled to find that the trial process could compensate for any prejudice arising.
[2020] EWCA Crim 971
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Burnett LCJ, Cutts J, Tipples J)
23 July 2020
A lie about fertility was not sufficiently closely connected to the performance of sexual intercourse so as to be able to negate consent under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.74. It related to the possible consequences of unprotected sex but not to the physical performance of the act itself.
[2020] EWCA Crim 855
CA (Crim Div) (Dingemans LJ, Cutts J, Judge Karu)
8 July 2020
A defendant's conviction for sexual offences was not rendered unsafe by virtue of the fact that a police caution, which had been admitted in evidence at trial to give the jury a full picture of his character, was deleted after the trial.
[2020] EWCA Crim 820
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Burnett LCJ, Sweeney J, Murray J)
30 June 2020
A jury's decisions to convict a defendant of oral rape but to acquit of vaginal rape were not irreconcilable where the victim had been asleep at commencement of the oral sex and had mistaken the offender for her boyfriend. Social media messages detailing the defendant's involvement in a sexual conquest game were properly admitted as important explanatory evidence and evidence relevant to consent and the jury had been correctly directed as to the relevance of the messages.
[2020] EWCA Crim 790
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Cheema-Grubb J, Sir Nicholas Blake)
23 June 2020
The court gave guidance on issues arising in criminal investigations and proceedings relating to the retention, inspection, copying, disclosure and deletion of digital records held on electronic devices such as mobiles phones by prosecution witnesses, including complainants.
DC (President of the QBD, William Davis J)
20 May 2020
An application for disclosure was refused where the claimants had all the information necessary to challenge a special prosecutor's decision not to prosecute a victim who had allegedly made a false allegation of rape against their son. Disclosure of the documents sought had no relevance to the decision not to prosecute and the focus should have been whether the prosecutor's decision was perverse.
[2020] EWHC 1053 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Haddon-Cave LJ, Holgate J)
1 May 2020
A magistrates' court had been entitled to make a notification order under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.97 where an individual had been convicted of rape overseas. Where a person had committed a serious sexual offence so as to be subject to indefinite notification requirements, the continuation of such requirements for a minimum of 15 years did not constitute a disproportionate interference with his ECHR art.8 rights, despite the regime being automatic.
[2020] EWCA Crim 327
CA (Crim Div) (Leggatt LJ, May J, Judge Stockdale QC)
21 February 2020
In an appeal against a rape conviction, the trial judge's omission to direct the jury in the form recommended in R. v Sheehan (Michael) [1975] 1 W.L.R. 739 on the relevance of intoxication to intention did not render the conviction unsafe. The Sheehan direction was not a direction on a matter of law, but on how the jury should approach its fact-finding task. The jury had been directed in the clearest terms to assess the evidence and decide what factual inferences to draw.
[2020] EWCA Crim 137
CA (Crim Div) (Simon LJ, Cutts J, Eady J)
12 February 2020
In a rape trial where the central issue was credibility, the judge had been entitled to permit the prosecution to adduce evidence of a defence witness's bad character under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.100(1)(b). The fact that the witness had been convicted of serious sexual offences might fairly be regarded as providing an explanation of why he might be prepared to lie to assist a friend accused of similar offences.
[2020] UKPC 4
PC (Bah) (Lord Carnwath, Lord Hodge, Lady Black, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lady Arden)
27 January 2020
An appellant challenging his conviction for rape 23 years after the trial could not rely on any lack of evidence resulting from his failure to obtain samples to carry out DNA testing. Any request for samples he had made during the trial had not been pursued. There had been no failure to disclose by the prosecution: the appellant had been made aware 18 months before trial of the prosecution's expert evidence on DNA. The appellant had not been prevented from obtaining his own expert report.
[2019] EWHC 3177 (Fam)
Fam Div (Cobb J)
21 November 2019
The court upheld a finding of fact made during a fact-finding hearing in the context of a father's application for a child arrangements order. The judge had carefully evaluated the evidence when she found that the father had raped the child's mother, resulting in the conception of the child.
[2019] EWCA Crim 1634
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Lavender J, Fancourt J)
4 October 2019
In a complex trial in which 11 defendants faced numerous charges arising from their alleged sexual exploitation of teenage girls, the fact that one of the jurors had conducted internet research and told the others that one of the defendants had previously served a custodial sentence did not mean that the entire jury should be discharged. It was sufficient to discharge the juror in question, order a retrial in respect of the defendant in question, and permit the remaining jurors to continue in respect of the other 10 defendants.
[2019] EWCA Crim 1568
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Burnett LCJ, Warby J, Edis J)
17 September 2019
A challenge, by way of judicial review, by a young offender convicted of the murder and rape of a 14-year-old girl, to an excepting direction which discharged a reporting restriction order imposed under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.45(3), was refused.
[2019] EWCA Crim 1363
CA (Crim Div) (Leggatt LJ, Popplewell J, Judge Marson QC)
18 July 2019
Convictions for rape and indecent assault were deemed unsafe where a judge had failed to give a jury clear directions as to whether, and if so how, they could rely on the evidence of each victim when considering the allegations made by the other.
[2019] EWCA Crim 887
CA (Crim Div) (Nicola Davies LJ, Spencer J, Morris J)
22 May 2019
Despite the absence of certain evidence at trial, the appellant's convictions for sexual assault and rape of his half-sister were safe, because the totality of the trial process including the directions given and the summing up was fair.
[2019] EWCA Crim 665
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Warby J, Sir John Royce)
28 March 2019
There might be cases where guidance from the trial judge on myths and stereotypes in rape cases would be appropriate to benefit a defendant, but the instant case, in which the defendant was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice after making repeated and false allegations of rape, was not one of them. Given the evidence called, even if the guidance had been given, it would not have assisted the defendant.
[2019] EWHC 183 (Admin)
DC (Nicola Davies LJ, Nicol J)
5 February 2019
The Criminal Cases Review Commission had been justified in refusing to refer the claimant's two convictions for sexual offences to the Court of Appeal. The fresh evidence on which he had sought to rely did not give rise to a real possibility that the convictions would not be upheld.
[2020] EWCA Crim 4
CA (Crim Div) (Green LJ, Soole J, Judge Walden-Smith)
16 January 2019
A judge had not erred in admitting evidence of a defendant's previous convictions during a trial for kidnapping, rape and assault as rebuttal evidence under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.101(1)(g) against the defendant's attack on the complainant's credibility.
[2019] EWCA Crim 31
CA (Crim Div) (Gross LJ, Elisabeth Laing J, Cheema-Grubb J)
15 January 2019
A sentence of three-and-a-half years' imprisonment imposed on an offender for historic offences of buggery and indecent assault on a fellow resident at a children's home was unduly lenient. The offender satisfied the dangerousness criteria and a sentence of five years and ten months' imprisonment with a three-year extension period was appropriate.
[2018] EWHC 3469 (QB)
DC (Lord Burnett LCJ, Jay J)
14 December 2018
A member of a group under police surveillance who had entered into a sexual relationship with an undercover police officer was unable to establish that her lack of knowledge as to the officer's true identity vitiated her consent to sexual relations within the meaning of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.74. There was no justification for extending the common law position as contended for by the claimant, namely that the matter to which the deception related had to be sufficiently serious in objective terms as to be capable of being regarded as relevant to a woman's decision-making and that, subjectively, the deception went to a matter which the woman regarded as critical or fundamental to her decision-making.
[2018] EWCA Crim 2933
CA (Crim Div) (Holroyde LJ, Cockerill J, Judge Walden-Smith)
28 November 2018
A 29-year extended sentence, which included a custodial term of 21 years, imposed on a young adult offender following a campaign of rape against victims aged between 13 and 16, was excessive. Insufficient weight had been given to the offender's age, lack of maturity and unstable background. An extended sentence of 26 years, with an 18-year custodial term, was appropriate.
[2018] EWCA Crim 2606
CA (Crim Div) (Leggatt LJ, Lewis J, Judge Lodder QC)
23 November 2018
Although a judge had unnecessarily and improperly intervened during a defendant's examination-in-chief, the interventions were not so significant as to materially impair the defendant's ability to put his case before the jury. The judge's interventions, combined with deficiencies in his summing-up, had not deprived the defendant of a fair trial.
CA (Crim Div) (Irwin LJ, May J, Judge Mayo)
13 June 2018
A 16-year extended sentence for the rape of an ex-partner was neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle where the judge had been entitled to conclude that the offender was dangerous and a post-sentence report documented no change in mentality. There could also be no proper complaint about a concurrent 12-year sentence imposed for a second count of rape against the same victim.
[2018] UKSC 27
SC (Lady Hale PSC, Lord Mance JSC, Lord Kerr JSC, Lord Wilson JSC, Lord Reed JSC, Lady Black JSC, Lord Lloyd-Jones JSC)
7 June 2018
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission had no standing to seek a declaration that abortion law in Northern Ireland was incompatible with ECHR art.3 and art.8 because it had not instituted proceedings by identifying any unlawful act or any actual or potential victim. Although the Supreme Court therefore had no jurisdiction to make a declaration of incompatibility, it considered that the current law was disproportionate and incompatible with art.8 insofar as it prohibited abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and where pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.
[2018] EWHC 795 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Judge Gosnell)
30 April 2018
A prosecutor's decision not to charge a man with the rape of a woman with learning difficulties was not irrational. The circumstances of the man's acquittal some years earlier on charges of sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice were such that the prosecutor had been right to conclude that the man would be able to establish that a second prosecution was an abuse of process.
[2018] EWCA Crim 538
CA (Crim Div) (Macur LJ, William Davis J, Judge Munro QC)
21 March 2018
Evidence of a step-father's controlling behaviour towards his wife and step-son had been relevant evidence at his trial for 16 sexual offences against his step-daughter, as his defence was that his step-daughter was lying and exaggerating his controlling behaviour and the evidence was relevant to the issue of her credibility. A total sentence of 22 years' imprisonment was not manifestly excessive.
[2018] EWCA Crim 438
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Goss J, Andrew Baker J)
27 February 2018
Given the aggravating factors involved in the sexual assault and subsequent rape of the same victim, a judge had been entitled to set the minimum term of a life sentence at over twice the upper limit of the respective sentencing guideline range. However, the sentence was too high and was reduced from nine-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half years.
[2018] EWCA Crim 318
CA (Crim Div) (Holroyde LJ, Elisabeth Laing J, Judge Aubrey QC)
15 February 2018
The court stated the principles to be applied in sentencing cases where a serious medical condition meant that a lesser sentence should be imposed on an offender than would otherwise be appropriate. In cases of serious ill health, the appeal court might, in rare cases, take account of medical evidence obtained after sentencing which showed a significant deterioration in a medical condition, even when the condition had been known at the date of sentencing. A terminal prognosis should be taken into account in assessing whether imprisonment weighed so much more heavily on an appellant than it did on other prisoners that the sentence length had to be exceptionally reduced.
[2018] EWHC 210 (Admin)
DC (Holroyde LJ, Jay J)
9 February 2018
Due to a fugitive offender's mental health needs and the risk of suicide if he were extradited, and in the context of an increased prison population in Turkey following an attempted coup and the lack of available healthcare, extradition to Turkey would breach the individual's ECHR art.3 rights.
[2017] EWCA Crim 2214
CA (Crim Div) (Simon LJ, Goss J, Judge Walden-Smith)
21 December 2017
A conviction for rape was found to be unsafe where the prosecution had relied on an edited and misleading series of Facebook exchanges between the complainant and appellant. The case centred on consent and turned on credibility, and Facebook messages which had been deleted by the complainant but obtained after the trial undermined her version of events and supported that of the appellant.
[2017] EWCA Crim 1216
CA (Crim Div) (Thirlwall LJ, Sir John Royce, Judge Inman QC)
20 June 2017
A judge had not erred in imposing a total sentence of 14 years' imprisonment, comprising an extended sentence and consecutive determinate sentences, following an offender's guilty pleas to serious sexual and violent offences against a vulnerable 17-year-old girl. However, the authorities indicated that it was better practice for the determinate sentences to be imposed first, followed by the extended sentence, and the court emphasised the importance of counsel assisting the judge in such sentencing tasks.
[2017] EWCA Crim 895
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Whipple J, Judge Picton)
15 June 2017
In the appellant's trial for sexual offences, the judge had been unduly hostile towards his counsel when she asked a leading question, but his conduct, seen in the context of the proceedings overall, did not render the trial unfair.
[2017] NICA 36
CA (NI) (Morgan LCJ, Weir LJ, McBride J)
14 June 2017
A minimum term of 10 years' imprisonment, equating to a determinate sentence of 20 years, imposed in respect of a life sentence following an offender's conviction for historical offences of rape and indecent assault, was reduced to six years to reflect the principle of totality of sentence. The offender had previously been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for similar sexual offences committed close in time to the index offences, which effectively equated to a total sentence before reduction of 32 years.
[2017] EWCA Crim 819
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, King J, Andrews J)
26 May 2017
The Court of Appeal refused to reopen an application for leave to appeal against sentence where the offender had been denied the opportunity of an oral hearing due to an administrative error. The court had the discretion to reopen a case in those circumstances, but the offender's long delay in seeking to reopen her case meant that it would be inappropriate to exercise that discretion.
[2017] EWCA Crim 878
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, King J, Andrews J)
26 May 2017
A 17-year extended sentence imposed on an offender who had grossly abused his position of trust as deputy principal of a children's home in subjecting young boys in his care to repeated sexual abuse was unduly lenient. Given the scale and frequency of the offending, which was akin to a campaign of rape, an extended sentence of 22 years was appropriate.
[2017] EWHC 646 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Wyn Williams J)
29 March 2017
The court interpreted Home office guidance entitled "Crime Recording General Rules" on determining whether and when a reported incident should be recorded as a crime. It determined that in the circumstances of the case, a reasonable decision-maker taking account of all the relevant factors would have concluded, beyond reasonable doubt, that an individual had not committed a crime.
[2017] UKSC 20
SC (Lord Kerr JSC, Lord Clarke JSC, Lord Reed JSC, Lord Hughes JSC, Lord Hodge JSC)
22 March 2017
In determining that it was not in the interests of justice for an offender's case to be referred to the High Court of Justiciary on the basis of Cadder (Peter) v HM Advocate [2010] UKSC 43, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission had not erred in taking into account the fact that the offender had not disputed the truth of an admission made in his police interview, had not challenged the fairness of the interview or its use at trial, and had made use of the interview at trial.
[2017] EWCA Civ 139
CA (Civ Div) (Sir Brian Leveson PQBD, McFarlane LJ, Henderson LJ)
14 March 2017
A child conceived with a genetic disorder as a result of the incestuous rape of his mother was not eligible to claim criminal injuries compensation. He could not be the victim of a crime committed before he had been conceived, and it was not possible to assess compensation on the basis that he would otherwise have been born without disability.
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Jay J, Recorder of Manchester )
26 January 2017
Where a court had no idea why a serious offence had been committed and could not be confident that another serious offence would not be committed, it should make a finding of dangerousness.
[2017] EWCA Crim 281
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Thomas LCJ, Spencer J, Stuart-Smith J)
25 January 2017
The Court of Appeal, including the Lord Chief Justice, expressed the hope that in future cases where counts were wrongly joined the highly technical law in relation to finding the indictment a nullity should no longer prevail. The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee should consider expressly providing what was to happen in that situation.
[2017] EWCA Crim 106
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Lewis J, Russell J)
24 January 2017
Where a young and vulnerable victim had lied in her ABE interviews, it was not necessary for every aspect of the defence case to be put to her. A list of inconsistent statements could be produced and agreed with the prosecution, and adduced in evidence by way of admission.
[2016] EWCA Crim 1777
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Elisabeth Laing J, Judge Topolski QC)
11 November 2016
A total sentence of 15 years' imprisonment together with an extended licence period of one year was appropriate for historic sex offences committed by a 71-year-old man against his three step-grandchildren.
[2016] EWCA Crim 2117
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Wilkie J, Holroyd J)
9 November 2016
Sentences of 11 years and three months in detention, following the first offender's guilty pleas to two charges of rape, and 14 years in detention, following the second offender's guilty pleas to three charges of rape, were not manifestly excessive where the teenage offenders had carried out serious and violent attacks on two vulnerable victims on two separate occasions.
CA (Crim Div) (Lloyd Jones LJ, Dingemans J, Recorder of Preston)
4 November 2016
A total sentence of 18 years' imprisonment, comprising 15 years for rape and three years for the robbery, was reduced to 16 years as the judge had not taken sufficient account of the principle of totality when sentencing the offender for the robbery. The offender had taken the victim at knife point and raped her in an alleyway before demanding money from her; it was not easy to separate the additional harm to the victim.
[2016] EWCA Crim 1856
CA (Crim Div) (Lloyd Jones LJ, Hickinbottom J, Fraser J)
27 October 2016
Concurrent sentences of five-years-and-four-months' imprisonment for an oral and a vaginal rape were unduly lenient. The starting point should have been 11 years to reflect the fact that two offences were committed at a remote location, involving a prolonged struggle during which the offender raped the victim without a condom and ejaculated.
[2016] EWCA Crim 1633
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Brian Leveson PQBD, Jeremy Baker J, Patterson J)
19 October 2016
The threshold in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41(3)(c), which permitted the victim of a sexual offence to be cross-examined about her sexual behaviour if there was a similarity between her previous alleged conduct and the act complained of, was high. The provision could not be invoked to argue that a complainant who had engaged in casual sex in the past was likely to have done so on this occasion. There had to be a sufficient chronological nexus between the past and current events, otherwise any cross-examination on the issue would not be truly probative.
[2016] UKPC 18
PC (CI) (Lord Neuberger, Lord Clarke, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes, Lord Toulson)
30 June 2016
A conviction for offences of rape and indecent assault was not unsafe where, notwithstanding the judge's omission to carry out the procedure in the Police Law 2010 s.149(2), which exactly reproduced the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 s.35, the appellant had been advised not only that he could give evidence if he wished but also that he risked an adverse inference if he did not and was adjudged to have had no good reason for the omission.
CA (Crim Div) (Burnett LJ, Edis J, Recorder of Birmingham)
21 June 2016
The concept of abduction in harm category 2 of the sentencing guidelines for rape was not a matter of distance. A sentence of eight years' imprisonment following a guilty plea to a historic offence of rape was justified where the offender, who had previous convictions for indecent exposure with intent to assault a female, had raped the victim twice in an incident which had caused her lifelong harm.
[2016] EWCA Crim 815
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Jeremy Baker J, Judge Ford QC)
9 June 2016
A 30-year extended sentence comprising a 22-year custodial element and an eight-year licence period was appropriate in the case of a 61-year-old man who had pleaded guilty to 33 child sexual offences committed against three young girls over a 40-year period.
DC (Gross LJ, Nicol J)
27 May 2016
The police had been entitled not to refer an individual's historic rape allegations to the CPS where the relevant evidential test within the Director's Guidance on Charging 2013 had not been met.
CA (Crim Div) (Macur LJ, Goss J, Judge Aubrey QC)
11 May 2016
Whilst the judge at the appellant's trial for rape had not conducted the correct judicial exercise in refusing to allow the appellant to adduce evidence of the victim's previous allegations of rape and to cross-examine her in relation to them, it was not possible to argue that there had been a clear evidential basis on which to mount a cross-examination and the judge had been right to refuse the application.
CA (Crim Div) (Sharp LJ, Foskett J, Judge Cooke QC)
6 May 2016
An Attorney General's Reference was allowed where an offender had been convicted of rape, assault, false imprisonment and criminal damage committed over a two-day period. It had been a brutal, prolonged, terrifying and degrading attack and the total sentence of four years' imprisonment was replaced by one of eight years.
[2016] EWCA Crim 452
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Flaux J, Sir David Maddison)
21 April 2016
An appeal against a rape conviction was allowed in light of fresh evidence concerning the complainant's sexual relationships with third parties. Their accounts of her sexual behaviour were arguably sufficiently similar to that alleged by the appellant as to come within the terms of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41(3)(c)(i). The situation was an example of a rare case where it was appropriate to allow forensic examination of a complainant's sexual history with third parties.
[2016] EWCA Crim 1386
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Wyn Williams J, Judge Collier QC)
20 April 2016
Concurrent sentences of seven years' imprisonment for five counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and two counts of rape of the same child, committed by a young offender over a seven-year period, were not unduly lenient where he had stopped his offending as soon as the victim asked him to, and admitted his guilt as soon as the offending was disclosed. Such candour required recognition in the sentencing exercise. Consecutive sentencing would have been better so as to differentiate between the sexual assaults and the rapes.
[2016] EWCA Crim 262
CA (Crim Div) (Jackson LJ, Irwin J, Jeremy Baker J)
29 February 2016
The custodial period of an extended sentence imposed on a young offender following his conviction for rape should be reduced from seven-and-a-half to five years to take account of, among other things, his age and the possibility that he might be suffering from a personality disorder.
CA (Crim Div) (Lindblom LJ, Andrew Smith J, Recorder of Manchester )
25 February 2016
The admission of evidence of sexual violence used against a victim by an offender, but for which he had not been charged, did not render his convictions for rape unsafe where the offender had launched a strong attack on the victim's character and where the bad character evidence was important in giving the jury the full picture of the violent relationship between the pair.
[2016] EWCA Crim 16
CA (Crim Div) (Sharp LJ, Kenneth Parker J, Elisabeth Laing J)
23 February 2016
A judge had been right to exclude hearsay evidence under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.126, as the evidence the defendant sought to admit concerning another man's confession and subsequent retraction to rapes that the defendant denied committing was already before the jury. The DNA evidence implicating the defendant was overwhelming and there was no doubt that his convictions were safe.
[2016] EWCA Crim 331
CA (Crim Div) (Lindblom LJ, Andrew Smith J, Gilbart J)
23 February 2016
An extended sentence imposed for rape by way of vaginal penetration, rape by way of oral penetration, assault by penetration and false imprisonment, was inappropriate where the material relied on to conclude that the offender was dangerous within the meaning of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Pt 12 Ch 5 was too thin and the reasoning too speculative. A determinate 11-year sentence was imposed.
[2016] NICA 3
CA (Crim Div) (NI) (Morgan LCJ, Gillen LJ, Keegan J)
29 January 2016
A determinate custodial sentence of seven years, comprising three-and-a-half years in custody and the same period on licence, was appropriate in the case of the appellant, who had been convicted of the rape and sexual assault of a 52-year-old woman.
[2015] EWCA Crim 2376
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Cox J, Sir John Royce)
18 December 2015
Convictions for rape, assault by penetration and kidnap were not arguably unsafe where, despite inconsistencies in hearsay evidence and missing CCTV, the judge had given a measured assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Crown's case and had directed the court's mind to disadvantages endured by the appellant. A sentence of 13 years' imprisonment was reduced to nine years where the judge had wrongly relied on an abuse of trust.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1917
CA (Civ Div) (Fulford LJ, Spencer J, Holgate J)
9 December 2015
A sentence with a minimum term of nine years and three months' imprisonment imposed for nine counts of rape was quashed as the minimum term had been wrongly increased by six months to reflect a breach of a suspended sentence imposed for breach of a sexual offences prevention order. The offence for which the suspended sentence had been received was not a specified offence and therefore should not have been added to the minimum term.
[2015] NIQB 96
QBD (NI) (Horner J)
30 November 2015
The court determined that the failure to provide exceptions to the law in Northern Ireland prohibiting abortion in respect of fatal foetal abnormality at any time, and pregnancies due to sexual crime up to the date when a foetus became capable of an existence independent of its mother, was contrary to the ECHR art.8.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1792
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Lang J, Patterson J)
18 November 2015
A conviction for sexual offences against a child was safe, as medical evidence adduced as fresh had not permitted confident review of a previous diagnosis so as to describe it as ill-founded; taken at its highest it neither supported nor refuted the allegations against the offender. The defence was still that any abuse was perpetrated by another and the jury had decided on the non-medical evidence.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1916
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Thomas LCJ, Globe J, Males J)
19 October 2015
After receiving a note indicating that a juror in a rape trial might not make a decision but just go with the majority, the judge should have told the jury that each member had to consider the evidence and reach a verdict according to his or her view of the material. The subsequent conviction by a majority was not, however, unsafe as the foreman had made it unequivocally clear that 10 jurors had agreed and two had disagreed.
[2015] EWHC 2868 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Sir Brian Leveson PQBD, William Davis J)
13 October 2015
The court considered the proper approach to the Victims' Right to Review Guidance of CPS decisions and to claims made in respect of decisions to charge where the original decision was not to charge.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1905
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Jay J, Picken J)
7 October 2015
An extended sentence comprising a 12-year custodial term and a five-year extension period was appropriate in the case of an offender who had vaginally and anally raped a friend, handcuffing her and pressing a pillow over her face. A discretionary life sentence was not justified.
[2015] EWCA Crim 2501
CA (Crim Div) (Burnett LJ, Lindblom LJ, Carr J)
10 September 2015
When sentencing an offender who had been convicted of the rape and assault by penetration of a friend, the judge had erred in regarding the appellant's offences as demonstrating an abuse of trust such as to place it within Category 3A of the sentencing guidelines. The offences should have been placed in Category 3B. For the offence of rape, the appropriate sentence was an extended sentence of nine years, comprising a custodial term of six years and an extension period of three years; and for the assault by penetration, a sentence of two years' imprisonment, to run concurrently.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1582
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Sweeney J, Picken J)
20 August 2015
The fact that an intermediary had provided physical and emotional support to a vulnerable and distressed complainant during a rape trial did not result in a serious risk of unfairness to the defendant. Both counsel and the judge had warned the jury to approach the complainant's evidence untrammelled by sympathy.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1855
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Thomas LCJ, Nicol J, Stuart-Smith J)
22 July 2015
An appellant's conviction for rape was safe where there was substantial evidence before the jury that the victim was intoxicated and incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse with him. There was no presumption that the conviction was unsafe because the judge did not give a good character direction.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1279
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Jay J, Edis J)
17 July 2015
When dismissing an appeal against conviction for sexual activity involving children, including rape and trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, the court considered the issue of consent. Where a vulnerable or immature individual had allegedly been subjected to grooming for sexual purposes, the question of whether real or proper consent had been given would usually be for the jury to decide, unless the evidence clearly indicated that proper consent had been given.
[2015] EWCA Crim 1223
CA (Crim Div) (Macur LJ, Nicola Davies J, Judge Zeidman QC)
26 June 2015
Sentences of nine years' imprisonment were neither unduly lenient nor manifestly excessive for two offenders who had raped an intoxicated young woman in an alleyway outside a nightclub. It had been appropriate not to impose a consecutive sentence for digital anal penetration by one of the offenders.
[2015] EWCA Crim 854
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Brian Leveson PQBD, Hickinbottom J, Thirlwall J)
20 May 2015
Undisclosed material from the police and social services which included information regarding previous sexual allegations made by a rape victim that had not been pursued because of concerns expressed by the relevant professionals at the time regarding her credibility, did not significantly undermine the victim's credibility so as to affect the safety of the conviction.
[2015] EWCA Crim 741
CA (Crim Div) (Macur LJ, Cranston J, Holroyde J)
1 May 2015
Fresh evidence which cast doubt on the credibility of a complainant's evidence had sufficient impact on the safety of a conviction for rape for it to be quashed. However, the evidence did not have the same impact on the complainant's credibility in respect of allegations of sexual assault, which were upheld.
[2015] EWCA Crim 883
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Nicol J, Judge Tonking (Recorder of Stafford))
29 April 2015
A judge had erred in focusing on the risk an offender posed to the public, rather than the seriousness of the offences, when imposing what was in effect a whole life order for multiple counts of rape and further counts of kidnapping and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The very high test of exceptionality for whole life orders had not been fulfilled but, given the aggravating features of the case, a notional determinate sentence beyond the sentencing guideline range was justified.
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Green J, Edis J)
24 April 2015
Two convictions for rape were safe where a judge had admitted evidence of an offender's single previous conviction for sexual assault. The offences all demonstrated sufficiently unusual behaviour, capable of demonstrating the offender's propensity to commit offences of the kind charged, to permit admission under the bad character provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Saunders J, McGowan J)
21 April 2015
Although a judge had given a Watson direction without hearing submissions and that deviated from the approved wording, the direction did not render a comviction for rape unsafe. Provided the direction was given in a way that did not put pressure on jurors, whether and when to give a direction was a matter for the judge's discretion.
[2015] EWCA Crim 559
CA (Crim Div) (Burnett LJ, Gilbart J, Judge Griffith-Jones)
27 March 2015
Consent to sex could take many forms, ranging from willing enthusiasm to reluctant acquiescence. It was possible for somebody who lacked neither the capacity nor the freedom to make a choice nevertheless to submit to a demand that she felt unable to resist. That was an example of reluctant consent.
[2015] NICA 11
CA (NI) (Girvan LJ, Coghlin LJ, Gillen LJ)
20 March 2015
A judge had not erred in permitting the prosecution to adduce evidence of an offender's bad character, relating to conduct forming the basis of a charge for sexual assault, of which he was acquitted, after it had closed its case as the defence had not yet opened its case. The judge had also directed the jury fairly on the similarities and dissimilarities between the previous incident and the index offence.
[2015] EWCA Crim 383
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Cooke J, Lang J)
17 March 2015
A judge had erred in refusing to allow cross-examination of a rape complainant regarding her previous convictions, as the evidence was of substantial probative value in respect of the question of whether her allegation was worthy of belief. However, the evidence would have had no significant impact on the jury's consideration of the specific issues of creditworthiness in the circumstances of the case and the conviction was safe.
[2015] EWCA Crim 563
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Stewart J, Simler J)
5 March 2015
An extended sentence of 39 years, with a custodial term of 33 years, imposed in respect of a very large number of serious sexual offences against young girls was manifestly excessive; the appropriate custodial term was 30 years. The judge had also erred in adding up the consecutive sentences to reach the overall custodial term before imposing an extension period on the total: it was the overall extended determinate sentences that had to be consecutive, not just the custodial terms.
[2015] EWCA Crim 177
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Hamblen J, Judge Wait)
19 February 2015
A multiple-counts indictment under the Criminal Procedure Rules 2014 r.14.2(2), which allowed multiple instances of similar offences to be charged as a course of conduct, would not be properly drafted unless it specified a minimum number of occasions on which the offending was alleged to have happened. Otherwise, where a defendant was convicted on such an indictment, a sentencing judge could not know how many times the jury believed the offence to have been committed, and fairness would require him to sentence on the basis that it was more than once, but no more than twice.
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, King J, Elisabeth Laing J)
5 February 2015
A judge had not erred in stating that an appellant's bad character had been agreed during a rape trial in which both the appellant and victim had impugned each other in their evidence. The conviction was safe despite the fact that allegations of past violence by the appellant had been made. The judge's direction had been adequate to deal with the issue.
[2015] EWCA Crim 2527
CA (Crim Div) (Bean LJ, Irwin J, Judge Batty QC)
30 January 2015
In a case involving two counts of rape committed when a complainant was asleep and thus unable to consent, the appropriate starting point was one of 15 years' imprisonment. It was increased by two years to take account of the aggravation of pornographic material which had been published on the internet by the defendant. A reduction of 20 per cent was applied to take account of the guilty pleas.
[2015] EWCA Crim 372
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Jeremy Baker J, Judge Batty QC)
23 January 2015
A judge had been right to refuse severance of a defendant's indictment for child abduction from his co-defendants' additional indictments for rape. The jury had not misunderstood the scope or nature of the case against the defendant, they had been directed carefully and the summing up had been clear.
CA (Crim Div) (Bean LJ, Nicol J, Judge Collier QC)
27 November 2014
A judge had not diluted a good character direction by directing a jury that to the extent that they accepted evidence of misconduct additional to that contained on the indictment, they would want to consider whether that evidence reduced the weight which they gave to the fact that the defendant had no previous convictions.
[2014] EWCA Crim 2512
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Cranston J, Knowles J)
25 November 2014
It was doubtful whether there was still a rule that prosecuting counsel could not make a closing speech where the defendant was unrepresented. It was preferable to approach the issue as a matter of balance and fairness: it was incumbent upon a trial judge, faced with an unrepresented defendant, to assess all the circumstances of a case and decide whether it would be fair to allow prosecuting counsel to make a speech.
[2014] EWCA Crim 2362
CA (Crim Div) (McCombe LJ, MacDuff J, Judge Morris QC)
5 November 2014
An individual had been incorrectly convicted of a historic offence of rape against a family member because, at the relevant time, anal penetration did not constitute that offence under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 s.1. It was appropriate to substitute an alternative conviction for indecent assault, as the facts fell within the scope of s.14(1) of the 1956 Act, and the test set out in R. v Graham (Hemamali Krishna) [1997] 1 Cr. App. R. 302 was satisfied.
[2014] EWCA Crim 2269
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Andrews J, Sir Roderick Evans)
8 October 2014
Although a 13-year-old victim of rape, sexual assault and trafficking for sexual exploitation had given contradictory and inconsistent evidence, there had been a clear basis on which the jury could properly have convicted the defendants. Whether her evidence was so unreliable that it could not properly lead to guilty verdicts was a question for the jury.
[2014] EWCA Crim 1816
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Sweeney J, Simler J)
2 September 2014
An acquittal on counts of rape and assault by penetration would be quashed and a retrial ordered where the complainant had left the country after giving an achieving best evidence interview and the Crown had offered no evidence at trial. There was new and compelling evidence in the form of the complainant's evidence which was available when she returned to the country, and a retrial would be in the interests of justice.
[2014] EWCA Crim 1614
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Griffith Williams J, Lewis J)
8 July 2014
A conviction for rape was not unsafe on the basis that the judge should have permitted cross-examination of the victim about the falsity of previous allegations of sexual abuse by other men. The fact that the victim had made but not pursued those allegations did not provide a proper evidential basis for showing the falsity of those complaints for the purposes of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.100.
[2014] EWCA Crim 1292
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Andrew Smith J, Judge Cooke QC)
3 July 2014
The appellant's conviction for the rape of his wife was unsafe, given fresh evidence from witnesses which cast doubt on the testimony given by the complainant.
[2014] EWCA Crim 1311
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Phillips J, Judge Russell QC (Recorder of Preston))
1 July 2014
In a trial of charges of sexual offences against the defendant's daughter and granddaughter, the judge had been entitled to rule that the complainants' various complaints were mutually cross-admissible. Further, the complainants' evidence had not been contaminated.
[2014] EWCA Crim 1416
CA (Crim Div) (McCombe LJ, Supperstone J, Judge Goldstone QC (Recorder of Liverpool))
12 June 2014
Where there had been confusion during the jury's return of verdicts on four counts of an indictment against two co-defendants, and a verdict against a count of kidnap was not formally entered against one defendant, that defendant had not been convicted of kidnap. The court therefore ordered the Crown Court record to be amended accordingly and the defendant's sentence for kidnap was quashed.
CA (Crim Div) (Sharp LJ, Irwin J, Judge Peter Collier QC (Recorder of Leeds))
22 May 2014
A judge had not failed to direct a jury properly on the burden and standard of proof in relation to offences of false imprisonment, assault occasioning bodily harm and rape where he had effectively directed the jury that they had to make a choice whether to believe the evidence of the complainant or the defendants.
[2014] EWCA Crim 1221
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Thomas LCJ, Hickinbottom J, Jeremy Baker J)
20 May 2014
A sentence of 20 years' imprisonment was appropriate in the case of a senior police officer who had been convicted of a number of sexual offences against his wife and teenage boys. In a case of this nature, where the offending spanned a long period of time and where there had been significant changes in the legislation, Crown counsel should ensure that assistance was given to the judge in relation to his sentencing powers.
[2014] EWCA Crim 927
CA (Crim Div) (Macur LJ, Blake J, Stuart-Smith J)
14 May 2014
Guilty verdicts on two sample counts of rape relating to a six-year period were logically inconsistent with acquittals on four specific counts of rape against the same victim. A reasonable jury could not, on the paucity of the stand-alone evidence concerning the sample counts, be sure of guilt in relation to them if they rejected the specific events.
[2014] EWCA Crim 715
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Brian Leveson (President QBD), Wilkie J, Lang J)
15 April 2014
A medical expert's opinion that a 15-year-old girl's injury to her hymen was diagnostic of blunt force trauma from sexual penetration had not been materially inaccurate and had not misled the jury in the trial of the appellant for raping the girl.
[2014] EWCA Crim 691
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Coulson J, Spencer J)
9 April 2014
A trial judge had correctly ruled that the contents of a conversation revealing details about a rape victim's previous sexual behaviour were not admissible under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41.
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Cooke J, Cranston J)
1 April 2014
A rape victim's evidence that she had little memory of the events was not sufficient for the judge to remove the case from the jury. There had been sufficient evidence for the jury to decide whether the victim had consented.
[2014] EWCA Crim 870
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Carr J, Sir Roderick Evans)
1 April 2014
On the facts of the case, the defendant's conviction for rape was not rendered unsafe by the judge's failure, after acceding to a request from the jury for the replaying of the complainant's ABE interview, to warn the jury not to place too much emphasis on what they had seen during the recording since they had not also viewed, at the same time, the evidence of any other witness, in particular the defendant.
[2014] EWCA Crim 574
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Kenneth Parker J, Sir David Calvert-Smith)
28 March 2014
A conviction for attempted rape was quashed following the admission of new DNA evidence taken from clothing worn by the victim at the time of the offence.
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Royce J, Judge Tonking)
19 March 2014
A judge had been correct in not permitting a defendant to cross-examine a complainant concerning a telephone recording where the complainant had allegedly confessed to murder, as it was not relevant to the issues in the case, namely whether the complainant had consented to intercourse, and fabricated evidence.
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Coulson J, Haddon-Cave J)
18 March 2014
In the circumstances, the fact that a complainant had made an unfounded allegation of rape against an accused in a retrial did not cast doubt on the reliability of her evidence against him in an earlier trial so as to render unsafe his conviction for sexual assault in that earlier trial.
[2014] EWCA Crim 847
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Holroyde J, Judge Lakin)
6 March 2014
In a case in which the defendant failed to mention in interview a matter on which he later relied in his defence, but that matter was one which the jury might find to be a lie in any event, the judge was right to give a direction which combined elements of a Lucas direction and a direction under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 s.34.
[2014] EWCA Crim 402
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Sweeney J, Judge Kramer QC)
27 February 2014
An extended sentence of 20 years' imprisonment was appropriate for manslaughter where the defendant had also raped the victim twice, displayed a callous disregard for her and then lied, painting a false picture of what had happened, and did not have the benefit of a guilty plea.
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Spencer J, Judge Leonard QC)
20 December 2013
Following directions from the Lord Chief Justice on the disproportionate use of the judiciary's scarce resources on hearing sentencing appeals based on a failure to take into account time served on remand, it was clear that that issue should be raised at the sentencing hearing and time limits for such appeals would be applied strictly in future. In an exceptional case, an offender's sentence for rape was reduced to take account of time when he was subject to a qualified curfew, in fairness to him and where the error had arisen before the guidance, but the guidance would not be departed from in future.
[2013] EWCA Crim 2398
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Mitting J, Judge Collier QC)
20 December 2013
An offender's convictions for historic offences of rape, buggery, attempted rape, indecent assault and murder were deemed safe, as the judge had given the jury adequate directions as to the dangers of delay and its effect on the evidence.
[2013] EWCA Crim 2329
CA (Crim Div) (Fulford LJ, Cox J DBE, Judge Wait)
10 December 2013
A jury's findings on the facts that a defendant with severe learning difficulties who was unfit to plead had committed two offences of rape were safe, notwithstanding the fact that an extract of the defendant's police interview had been wrongly admitted as evidence.
[2013] EWCA Crim 2335
CA (Crim Div) (McCombe LJ, Mittings J, Phillips J)
29 November 2013
A jury had been given adequate directions in relation to the issue of consent before it found a defendant guilty of rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault following a sexual encounter at a party between the defendant and a woman who was heavily intoxicated. The judge had fully dealt with the elements of capacity and it had not been necessary for him to indicate that a drunken consent remained a consent.
CA (Crim Div) (Sharp LJ, Griffith Williams J, Lindblom J)
28 November 2013
A 30-year delay on the part of a complainant did not render an offender's convictions for indecent assault, indecency with a child, and rape unsafe as the judge had sufficiently dealt with any prejudice to the offender in his summing up and directions to the jury and there had been other evidence that supported the complainant's evidence.
[2013] EWCA Crim 2313
CA (Crim Div) (Sharp LJ, Griffith Williams J, Lindblom J)
22 November 2013
A recorder had not erred in refusing a defence application to cross-examine a rape victim pursuant to the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41 in order to question her regarding her sexual relationship with another man.
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Pitchford, Nicola Davies J DBE, Judge Peter Collier QC (Recorder of Leeds))
19 November 2013
It had not been logically inconsistent for a jury to find a man accused of sexual activity with a child guilty of having intercourse with her but not guilty of digitally penetrating her as they were separate incidents and the surrounding circumstances of the latter might have led the jury to be not sure beyond a reasonable doubt.
[2013] EWCA Crim 1993
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Sweeney J, Judge Ziedman QC)
13 November 2013
An error on an indictment in respect of the date of the Act under which a charge of rape was made had been a precedural error that had caused no prejudice and had not rendered the indictment or the trial a nullity, as the offender had been aware of the case he had to meet and the trial had proceeded on the basis of the correct Act.
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Nicol J, Judge Elgan Edwards DL (Recorder of Chester))
12 November 2013
The acquittal of one of three men charged with multiple rapes of a woman over an evening had been explicable on the basis that he had joined the other two after the victim had ceased to show resistance. The judge had properly left the issue of reasonable belief in consent to the jury and had properly given a separate treatment direction.
[2013] EWCA Crim 2334
CA (Crim Div) (Aikens LJ, Blake J, Burnett J)
25 October 2013
The imposition of a sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of four-and-a-half years following an offender's conviction for rape and kidnapping could not be faulted, notwithstanding the judge's failure to set out her reasons for rejecting an extended sentence in her sentencing remarks. An extended sentence had undoubtedly been discussed at the relevant time, and the offender, who posed a serious risk to vulnerable women, was unlikely to comply with the licence conditions under the extended sentence regime.
[2013] EWCA Crim 1609
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Nicol J, Lang J)
24 September 2013
Although part of prosecuting counsel's cross-examination of a rape defendant, related to bad character and based on inadmissible hearsay evidence, had been misjudged and regrettable, it had not affected the overall fairness of the proceedings or the safety of the verdict.
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Hickinbottom J, Nicol J)
10 September 2013
Although the delay in the appellant's prosecution for historic sexual offences was extreme, the resulting missing evidence was not of a degree of cogency that could amount to a finding of serious prejudice in its absence. The trial judge had given the jury appropriate directions regarding the effect of the delay and the appellant's convictions were safe.
CA (Crim Div) (Leveson LJ, Mitting J, Spencer J)
19 July 2013
A nine-year term of imprisonment imposed on an offender for rape following a retrial in respect of allegations of rape and indecent assault of two young girls was reduced to eight years, as the sentence passed did not accurately reflect the fact that he had been acquitted of one of the rapes.
[2013] EWCA Crim 1426
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Spencer J, Haddon-Cave J)
3 July 2013
A trial judge had a wide discretion as to what warning, if any, he gave to a jury in relation to a witness's alleged unreliability. In the instant case, the judge had given an adequate and appropriate warning to the jury with regard to the inconsistencies in the complainant's evidence and an admitted lie, and the offender's conviction for indecent assault and rape was safe.
[2013] EWCA Crim 907
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Collins J, Judge Russell QC (Recorder of Preston))
24 May 2013
Although a judge had erred in allowing evidence of a defendant's rape conviction to be adduced under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.101(c) in his trial for breaches of a sexual prevention order, the direction to the jury that the rape was of no relevance and that the sole issue for them was whether the breaches had occurred meant that his conviction for the breaches was safe.
CA (Crim Div) (Jackson LJ, Thirlwall J DBE, Judge Goldstone QC (Recorder of Liverpool) )
17 May 2013
Credit for a guilty plea was to reflect savings to the public purse and the avoidance of requiring complainants to give evidence and be cross-examined; it was not to be given solely for showing remorse.
CA (Crim Div) (Jackson LJ, Thirlwall J DBE, Judge Goldstone QC (Recorder of Liverpool) )
17 May 2013
A sentence of 12 years' imprisonment for rape was reduced to 10 and a half years where the sentencing judge had failed to have sufficient regard to the unusual circumstances of the offence, in particular the effect upon the offender and the complainant, his former partner, of the death of their child.
[2013] EWHC 945 (Admin)
DC (Lord Judge LCJ, Fulford J, Sweeney J)
24 April 2013
A man had known that the only basis on which a woman had consented to sexual intercourse with him was that he would wear a condom or not ejaculate within her vagina, but there was evidence that he had intended that the occasion would culminate in such ejaculation and had deliberately ignored the basis of her consent to penetration as a manifestation of his control over her. In law, that combination of circumstances fell within the statutory definition of rape.
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Smith J, Baker J)
12 April 2013
A judge had not erred in refusing to discharge a jury where one of its members had complained of pressure from other jurors. The judge had given strongly worded directions to the jury on its duty to reach a true verdict according to the evidence, and there was nothing to suggest that a true verdict had not been reached.
[2013] EWCA Crim 323
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Simon J, Irwin J)
26 March 2013
In the course of deciding appeals in three cases in which victim impact statements had gone into evidence, the court surveyed their value and legal basis, gave guidance on the way they should be composed and used, and emphasised aspects of Practice Direction (Sup Ct: Criminal Proceedings: Substituted and Additional Provisions) [2009] 1 W.L.R. 1396.
[2013] EWCA Crim 424
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Saunders J, Judge Milford QC)
14 March 2013
A judge had applied the wrong test of the competence of a witness because she had considered the court's difficulties in communicating with the witness rather than the witness's ability to understand questions and give intelligible answers.
[2013] EWCA Crim 159
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Bean J, Griffith Williams J)
21 February 2013
The decision in R. v Conway (David Patrick) (1980) 70 Cr. App. R. 4 was not to be regarded as binding authority on the procedure required to be adopted in applications or appeals based on evidence of alleged retractions or inconsistent statements. What constituted the best and fairest procedure had to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
[2013] EWCA Crim 3
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ, Macur J, Maddison J)
31 January 2013
The defendant's convictions for raping his partner were safe where there was expert evidence that his mental illness had not affected his ability to understand whether his partner had consented. Even if that were wrong, delusional beliefs that a victim was consenting could not render reasonable a belief that the victim was consenting when they were not.
[2013] EWCA Crim 136
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Edwards-Stuart J, Sir Geoffrey Grigson)
24 January 2013
Although the custodial term of five years and four months imposed on a dangerous young offender following his guilty pleas to robbery, rape and assault by penetration had not been unduly lenient, the extended sentence imposed had been inadequate and was replaced by a sentence of detention for public protection.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2725
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Dobbs J, Judge Gilbert QC)
14 December 2012
Although not all the pre-trial disclosures a three-year-old child had made alleging that his father had raped him were admissible under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.120(2), in the circumstances they were all admissible in the interests of justice under s.114(1)(d).
[2012] EWCA Crim 3106
CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Keith J, Judge D Barker QC)
13 December 2012
The safety of an offender's convictions had not been undermined where the case against him had been extremely strong and the judge had both refused to allow the questioning of a complainant's sexual behaviour and had placed limitations upon the permitted questioning of another complainant's unsubstantiated allegations against another.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2850
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Burton J, Ramsey J)
11 December 2012
A sentence of detention for public protection with a minimum term of four years imposed on an offender for attempted rape and assault by penetration was unduly lenient and a minimum term of six years was substituted.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2773
CA (Crim Div) (McCombe LJ, Cranston J, Sir David Calvert Smith)
4 December 2012
Despite certain deficiencies in a judge's summing up on the issue of consent in relation to a rape charge, the subsequent conviction for rape was safe because it was clear that the jury were satisfied, to the requisite standard, that the accused had inflicted upon the victim such violence as clearly negated any question of consent on her part, or reasonable belief in her consent on his part.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2668
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ (Vice President), Ramsey J, Irwin J)
29 November 2012
Although the judge had erred by not applying current sentencing practice when sentencing the appellant for offences of rape and indecent assault committed in 1999, the sentence of 12 years' imprisonment which he had imposed could not be criticised.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2516
CA (Crim Div) (Treacy LJ, Fulford J, Judge McCreath)
27 November 2012
A reference in the evidence of a medical expert to a research paper on the incidence of genital injury in rape cases was admissible, despite allegations by the defence that it was misleading for lack of clarity, where that evidence did not form the sole basis for the expert's opinion and where a note to the jury dictated by the judge made it clear that the article related to women who reported that they had been raped.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2435
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Hallett LJ, Hughes LJ, Leveson LJ, Rafferty LJ)
21 November 2012
The imposition of whole life orders under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sch.21 para.4 did not contravene the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 art.3.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2393
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ, Teare J, Hickinbottom J)
15 November 2012
A fresh scientific analysis of DNA evidence in a rape case did not make the conviction unsafe as the position on appeal was essentially the same as it was at trial.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2358
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Nicol J, Lindblom J)
7 November 2012
Although a defendant's late application to adduce a photograph and Facebook messages during a rape trial was an unjustifiable breach of the rules of advance disclosure, the judge had erred in refusing to allow the evidence as it went to a relevant issue under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41, namely the complainant's alleged motive for lying.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2370
CA (Crim Div) (Aikens LJ, Singh J, Judge Rook QC)
12 October 2012
Where an 16-year-old offender had committed an offence of rape on an elderly woman, who was his grandmother, alone in her home at night after a forced entry, the circumstances were of such gravity that a sentence of life imprisonment was inevitable.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2034
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Mackay J, Dobbs J)
9 October 2012
The jury in the trial of a man charged with 18 sexual offences perpetrated against his step-daughter from when she was five years old until she was 25 were entitled, once they had found proved the charges relating to when she was a child, to find that her apparent consent when she was an adult was not real, given the abusive and controlling role her stepfather had established in her childhood.
[2012] NICA 41
CA (NI) (Morgan LCJ, Higgins LJ, Girvan LJ)
8 October 2012
A jury had not acted inconsistently in finding two young offenders guilty of oral rape but not guilty of sexual assault, even though the charges represented a sequence of events over the course of a 30-minute period and the central issue was consent. On the evidence, there was no logical inconsistency in the verdicts.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2211
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ, Wilkie J, Popplewell J)
3 October 2012
A conviction for rape was unsafe and a conviction for sexual assault was substituted, where there was an absence of any evidence or activity capable of justifying the conclusion which pointed to an intent to commit the specific offence of rape. There was ample evidence of an intent to commit a serious sexual assault and there was no doubt that the offender's actions had gone well beyond mere preparation.
[2012] NICA 38
CA (NI) (Morgan LCJ, Higgins LJ, Coghlin LJ)
26 September 2012
There was a continuing obligation on a trial judge to review disclosure as the trial progressed and new issues emerged, which might sometimes require the recovery of records that had already been examined to see whether more material should be disclosed.
[2012] EWCA Crim 2092
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Bean J, Underhill J)
21 September 2012
An indeterminate sentence was quashed and replaced with an extended sentence of 12 years' imprisonment, comprising a custodial term of seven-and-a-half years and an extended licence period of four-and-a-half years, following an offender's conviction for rape. A pre-sentence report had detailed a significant change in the offender's attitude towards the offence, in particular an acknowledgment of guilt.
[2012] EWHC 2411 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Judge Stewart QC)
26 July 2012
The Secretary of State for Justice had wrongly applied an exceptionality test to the question of whether or not there should have been an oral hearing to review the Category A status of a sexual offender. Procedural fairness required that an oral hearing should be held to determine the prisoner's current level of risk.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1914
CA (Crim Div) (Aikens LJ, Griffith Williams J, Judge Bevan QC)
18 July 2012
An extended licence period which had been imposed on a young man who had committed a number of offences against prostitutes would be reduced from five to three years to take into account his progress in prison and his acceptance of guilt.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1793
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Mackay J, Sweeney J)
17 July 2012
A sentence of 28 months' imprisonment for the rape of an 11-year-old girl by two young offenders, aged 12 and 14, was not manifestly excessive, and there was no error of law in the level of discount applied by the judge for the offenders' guilty pleas.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1477
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Underhill J, Judge Inman QC)
6 July 2012
The confusing and complex way in which a judge had directed the jury to consider whether the three appellants and another man were guilty individually or by joint enterprise of rape did not make their convictions unsafe.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1669
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Royce J, Griffith Williams J)
5 July 2012
A conviction for rape was safe, as the judge had been correct to refuse to allow the defendant to cross-examine the victim about an earlier incident involving her former husband having sexual intercourse with her while she was asleep. That incident had no relevance to the question of whether the victim had consented to sexual intercourse with the defendant.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1688
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Ouseley J, Haddon-Cave J)
4 July 2012
A sentence of eight years' imprisonment was the very minimum that the court could impose following a plea of guilty to the rape of a young boy, which had been committed in breach of trust and against a background of repeated and regular sexual abuse. The court would be sympathetic to those who had been abused themselves, but such abuse could not excuse a child victim turning adult predator. The sentence of four-and-a-half years' imprisonment was unduly lenient.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1646
CA (Civ Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Owen J, Griffith Williams J)
3 July 2012
A judge could not be criticised for making a finding of dangerousness in respect of a man of previous good character who had repeatedly raped his wife. Imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of eight years was not excessive. The fact that the offender had been brought up in Pakistan to believe that he had a right to rape his wife was no basis for leniency.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1566
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Bean J, Judge Beaumont QC (Recorder of London))
28 June 2012
A conviction for rape was unsafe where the judge omitted to discuss the need for a Lucas direction with counsel before speeches, had not discussed the proposed terms of his jury directions with counsel or produced any written drafts, and had failed to provide the jury with the clear assistance to which they were entitled in his summing-up, especially in relation to potential evidence of distress, corroboration and motive to lie.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1631
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Bean J, Judge Beaumont QC (Recorder of London))
26 June 2012
The court set aside a sentence of imprisonment for public protection imposed on an offender who had been convicted of raping his two stepdaughters over a number of years. Although the offender was dangerous and posed a high risk of harm, the public could adequately be protected by the imposition of a 20-year extended sentence.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1800
CA (Crim Div) (Sir John Thomas (President QBD) , Collins J, Calvert-Smith J)
20 June 2012
A judge had been entitled to conclude that it was appropriate to sentence a young offender to detention for public protection with a minimum term of two years, where he had raped his younger sister and cousins when he was aged between 11 and 12. However, it was important that his case should be reviewed by the Youth Justice Board immediately on the conclusion of the tariff period.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1585
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Bean J, Judge Beaumont QC (Recorder of London))
15 June 2012
Where an offender had pleaded guilty to fourteen counts of various sexual offences committed against four separate victims including members of his own family dating back some 40 years, the Court of Appeal reduced the total sentence from 23 years' to 19 years' imprisonment.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1962
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Underhill J, Judge Melbourne Inman QC)
22 May 2012
Although a judge in a rape trial had erred in not permitting the defendant to cross-examine on or adduce evidence about the complainant's alleged production and joint consumption of cocaine on the night in question on the incorrect basis that it was bad character evidence, in the absence of expert evidence about the likely effect of such consumption in the particular circumstances of the case, the evidence added nothing to the central issue of consent, and therefore the safety of the conviction was unaffected.
[2012] EWCA Crim 1235
CA (Crim Div) (Elias J, Eady J, Judge Bevan QC)
17 May 2012
Fresh evidence that a daughter was willing to lie did not add anything of significance to the evidence at trial about her credibility and did not render unsafe her father's convictions for sexual offences against her. The judge had been right to refuse cross-examination and evidence about a possible sexual relationship with another man as it was inadmissible evidence of the complainant's sexual history, and had not added anything to the evidence about her motive for leaving home.
[2012] EWCA Crim 709
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Calvert Smith J, Sharp J)
27 March 2012
Where offences in a case straddled different sentencing regimes, counsel for the prosecution and defence should inform the judge of the effect of those regimes.
[2012] EWCA Crim 434
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Silber J, Maddison J)
13 March 2012
Where a woman had been convicted of perverting the course of justice by retracting a truthful allegation of rape against her husband, the court was not entitled to interfere with the conviction. Whilst the woman had suffered domestic violence there was no evidence of duress and the prosecution had not been an abuse of process in light of the CPS policy in place at the time of the offence.
[2012] EWCA Crim 875
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Foskett J, Globe J)
8 March 2012
A mother and stepfather who had subjected their two young children to sustained, extensive and degrading sexual abuse over some 18 months, distributing images of the abuse over the internet and arranging for the children to be sexually abused by others, were sentenced to terms of eight years and to life imprisonment respectively.
[2012] NICA 39
CA (Crim Div) (NI) (Higgins LJ, Coghlin LJ, McLaughlin LJ)
8 March 2012
There was no inconsistency or confusion in the verdicts of a jury which decided that the appellant had indecently assaulted, but not raped, his niece when she was a young girl.
[2012] EWCA Crim 419
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Saunders J, Judge Kramer QC)
21 February 2012
A court should not take into account the effect of different regimes for automatic early release when passing sentence.
[2012] EWCA Crim 3229
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty LJ, Openshaw J, Lindblom J)
17 February 2012
A judge had not erred in adopting a 30-year starting point for the minimum term when sentencing a young offender to detention for life following his conviction for the murder of a 16-year-old girl, on the basis that the murder involved sexual or sadistic conduct and fell within the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sch.21 para.5(2)(e), notwithstanding the offender's limited intellectual ability and profound psychological and emotional difficulties.
[2012] EWCA Crim 134
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Keith J, Judge Scott-Gall)
9 February 2012
In a trial for rape, there had been no exceptional circumstances which justified a jury having a transcript of the complainant's ABE interview and retiring with it. That, compounded with the fact the recorder gave no warnings as to the risk of giving disproportionate weight to the transcript, rendered the conviction unsafe.
[2012] EWCA Crim 84
CA (Crim Div) (Gross LJ, Eady J, Blair J)
1 February 2012
A judge had erred when imposing an extended sentence for offences of rape and indecency with a child committed prior to the commencement of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.224 and s.227 and the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 s.85. The appropriate determinate sentence was one of 12 years' imprisonment with a direction that the provisions of s.86 of the 2000 Act should apply, with the effect that the offender would remain subject to supervision and recall until the expiry of the 12-year term.
[2012] EWCA Crim 19
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Burnett J, Judge Scott-Gall)
26 January 2012
A defendant's convictions for the anal rape of his wife were quashed where the judge had failed to give a modified good character direction based on the defendant's lack of previous convictions for sexual offences.
[2012] EWCA Crim 17
CA (Crim Div) (Sir John Thomas (President), Silber J, Kenneth Parker J)
24 January 2012
An expert, instructed by an offender to reconsider DNA evidence, had failed to discharge his duty to the court by not limiting his report to matters within his field of expertise and by making comments on the trial judge's summing up.
[2012] EWCA Crim 9
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Eady J, MacDuff J)
20 January 2012
In a trial involving aggravated burglary and sexual offences a judge had fairly summed up the evidence and the convictions could not be said to be unsafe. However, the total sentence of 16 years was manifestly excessive and was reduced to 12 years' imprisonment.
[2011] EWCA Crim 2910
CA (Crim Div) (Jackson LJ, Eady J, Judge Jacobs Recorder of Norwich)
22 November 2011
If an application to change a plea of guilty was likely to involve a conflict of evidence between the defendant and his former counsel, it would be sensible to arrange for the application to be heard by a judge from outside the area who had no personal knowledge of counsel.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1872
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Ryder J, Calvert-Smith J)
26 July 2011
On a literal construction of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (Commencement No. 6, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2009 the courts had to continue making orders under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 s.28 as well as informing the offender that he was barred from working with children under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. Judgment to the contrary in Attorney General's Reference (No.18 of 2011), Re [2011] EWCA Crim 1300, [2012] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 27 was incorrect.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1607
CA (Crim Div) (Leveson LJ, Keith J, Judge Pert QC)
29 June 2011
Although cross-examination which had invited impermissible speculation by the defendant should not have been allowed, that was insufficient to support a conclusion that his conviction for rape, buggery and indecent assault was unsafe, there being no other basis on which to undermine the jury's acceptance of the significant DNA evidence.
[2011] EWHC 1595 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Collins J)
24 May 2011
The Independent Police Complaints Commission was wrong not to request that consideration be given to bringing disciplinary proceedings against a sexual offences investigative techniques police officer who repeatedly told the victim of an alleged rape and her mother in the months before the trial that important telephone call evidence was available, when in fact it was not.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1291
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Cooke J, Judge Nicholas Cooke QC (Recorder of Cardiff))
20 May 2011
A judge's decision to discharge a jury in a rape trial to enable the defendant to consider his position had been made for appropriate reasons and in the interests of justice where the defendant had the defence of insanity open to him but chose to rely on the defence of consent.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1414
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Bean J, Macur J)
18 May 2011
A judge had erred in permitting in a rape trial the admission of two previous convictions for rape and attempted rape where the lapse of time between the commission of the previous offences and the instant offence was 32 years and 18 years respectively. The previous convictions were too old to satisfy the requirements of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.101(4) and s.103(3).
[2011] EWCA Crim 1142
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Maddison J, Judge Radford (Recorder of Redbridge))
5 May 2011
The court quashed a conviction for rape and assault by penetration in light of several material deficiencies in the re-trial judge's directions to the jury concerning the defendant's case and her failure to remind them of the defence following her decision to allow them to replay the complainant's video evidence.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1336
CA (Crim Div) (Toulson LJ, Davis J, Judge Bevan QC)
19 April 2011
Evidence not immediately relevant to rape charges made against three young offenders had been properly admissible at their trial where it was relevant to assessing the truthfulness of the victim and where it demonstrated an attempt to corrupt witnesses. Regarding the latter, admissibility did not depend on there being a count of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The upper tariff for rape sentencing was not reserved purely for rapes committed over a course of time or involving multiple victims.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1238
CA (Crim Div) (Toulson LJ, Davis J, Judge Anthony Russell QC Recorder of Preston)
15 April 2011
A sentence of six years' detention, imposed following a young offender's guilty plea to statutory rape of a child aged under 13 that had resulted in pregnancy, was quashed and replaced with two years and three months' detention where the majority of the sexual activity occurred after the complainant's thirteenth birthday, the activity had been instigated by the complainant and was consensual, and the offender had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and demonstrated remorse.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1136
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, King J, Blair J)
6 April 2011
Taking part in sexually explicit quizzes on the internet amounted to "sexual behaviour" within the meaning of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.42(1)(c).
[2011] EWCA Crim 916
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Mackay J, Hickinbottom J)
23 March 2011
In a retrial of several charges, evidence of an acquittal on one or more of the charges at the first trial should not be put before the second jury unless there was a clear inference that the first jury had rejected the testimony of a witness because it did not believe him, as opposed to thinking he might have been mistaken, and his credibility was directly in issue in the retrial.
[2011] EWCA Crim 930
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Henriques J, Foskett J)
22 March 2011
The cultural background of an offender of Pakistani origin who had raped his wife on numerous occasions was of no relevance for the purposes of mitigation.
[2011] EWCA Crim 1006
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Maddison J, Judge Radford)
21 March 2011
Inconsistent jury verdicts on one count of vaginal rape and one count of oral rape, arising out of same incident and given following a direction sanctioned by R. v Watson (Darren Antonio) [1988] Q.B. 690, were an unacceptable compromise and consequently unsafe.
[2011] EWCA Crim 633
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Henriques J, Davis J)
3 March 2011
The appropriate sentence for a rape committed in the course of a burglary would rarely be less than 12 years' imprisonment, and aggravating features would raise the starting point to 15 years. The taking of photographs of the victim was always to be treated as an aggravating feature.
[2011] EWCA Crim 703
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Treacy J, Judge Kramer QC)
3 March 2011
A total sentence of 12 years' imprisonment was appropriate in the case of an offender who had sexually abused two young boys on hundreds of occasions, causing them psychological damage and committing a gross breach of trust.
[2011] EWCA Crim 366
CA (Crim Div) (Aikens LJ, Irwin J, Judge Roberts QC)
10 February 2011
Concurrent sentences of six years' imprisonment for repeated rape offences when the victim was between the ages of seven and nine years old were manifestly excessive where the offender had been a youth at the time the offences were committed and they came to light years later. The judge should have applied the principles in R. v B [2009] EWCA Crim 1062.
[2011] EWCA Crim 74
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Hickinbottom J, Judge Elgan Edwards)
1 February 2011
A trial judge was right to refuse an application, by an offender facing charges of indecent assault and rape, for a stay for abuse of process as there was no serious prejudice to the offender by the passage of time between the offences and when the complainant made the allegations.
[2011] EWCA Crim 142
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Eady J, Simon J)
25 January 2011
The court set out principles to be borne in mind when sentencing young offenders aged between 12 and 15.
[2010] EWCA Crim 2902
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ (V-P), Mackay J, Sir Geoffrey Grigson)
14 December 2010
Sentences of detention of six years and seven years imposed on two young offenders for the rape of a 13-year-old girl, and a sentence of three years' detention imposed on a third young offender for aiding and abetting those rapes, were too high given the offenders' ages. Sentences of five years, six years and 30 months respectively were substituted.
[2010] EWCA Crim 3067
CA (Crim Div) (Gross LJ, Ramsey J, MacDuff J)
2 December 2010
Convictions for child sex offences were unsafe where fresh evidence was presented that was based on new developments in medical understanding relating to the physical signs of child sexual abuse.
[2010] EWHC 3412 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Langstaff J)
1 November 2010
A district judge had not erred in concluding that there was a real prospect of a sentence of two years or more being imposed on a youth accused of attempted rape; the district judge had therefore been justified in upholding a decision that he should be committed for trial in the Crown Court.
[2010] EWCA Crim 2620
CA (Crim Div) (Gross LJ, Butterfield J, Roderick Evans J)
27 October 2010
An offender's conviction for the rape of a 15-year-old girl was safe, there being no proper basis for criticising the judge's decision to leave the case to the jury and an issue about the reliability of the victim's evidence having been brought to the jury's attention.
[2010] EWCA Crim 2981
CA (Crim Div) (Richards LJ, Griffith Williams J, Judge Rook QC)
22 October 2010
An offender failed to establish that the jury's verdicts were inconsistent where he was convicted of rape but his co-defendant was acquitted. The case against the offender was strong and did not depend on the jury's acceptance of the victim's evidence.
[2010] EWCA Civ 1115
CA (Civ Div) (Pill LJ, Wilson LJ, Sullivan LJ)
8 September 2010
The early release provisions under the Criminal Justice Act 1991 s.33(1A) applied to an offender who, having served part of his sentence for attempted rape, was returned to prison under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 s.116 at the same time as being sentenced to imprisonment for an offence of burglary committed while released on licence.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1926
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ (V-P) , Rafferty J DBE, Maddison J)
27 July 2010
It was open to the jury to conclude that a child witness who contradicted her original allegations during cross-examination was not actually agreeing in any meaningful way to what was being suggested to her when such questions were framed as direct suggestions with an indication of the answer sought.
[2010] EWHC 2773 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Munby LJ, Langstaff J)
23 July 2010
The court underlined the need for promptness in bringing judicial review proceedings, in the context of a case where it had taken the CPS five weeks to decide whether to seek judicial review of a youth court's decision to retain jurisdiction in respect of an accused, resulting in prejudice to the accused.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1818
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Griffith Williams J, Judge Nicholas Cooke QC)
22 July 2010
Convictions for rape, kidnap and doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice were safe despite a delay of several years between the allegations and the trial. The trial judge had been right to refuse a submission of no case to answer and had clearly directed the jury on the possible prejudice caused to the offenders by the delay.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1768
CA (Crim Div) (Aikens LJ, Griffith Williams J, Recorder of Cardiff)
7 July 2010
A conviction for rape on a specimen count was unsafe on the instant particular facts and circumstances, where evidence rejected in relation to specific counts was therefore irrelevant to the specimen count.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1579
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Mackay J, Davis J)
29 June 2010
In the trial of a husband for the rape of his estranged wife, the judge had correctly refused to allow the defence to cross-examine the complainant as to the date when consensual intercourse had last taken place as that was not so relevant to the issue of consent as to endanger the fairness of the trial.
[2010] EWHC 1714 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Mitting J)
24 June 2010
The early release provisions introduced by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 s.26 applied to an offender who was returned to prison under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 s.116 at the same time as being sentenced to imprisonment for an offence of burglary committed while released on licence, having served part of his sentence for attempted rape.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1461
CA (Crim Div) (Stanley Burnton LJ, Dobbs J, Judge Pert QC)
22 June 2010
There were no defects in a judge's summing up in a trial for rape and sexual activity with a child and the conviction was safe.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1642
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Gross J, Judge Moss QC)
10 June 2010
An extended sentence of 12 years, comprising a custodial term of nine years and an extension period of three years, was appropriate in the case of an offender who had committed a sustained and violent rape of another male.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1230
CA (Crim Div) (Aikens LJ, Royce J, Judge Wadsworth QC)
20 May 2010
The court gave guidance on procedure to be followed where a jury was given transcripts of video evidence.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1251
CA (Crim Div) (Maurice Kay LJ, Royce J, Nicol J)
23 April 2010
In the circumstances, convictions for a series of familial sexual offences were safe notwithstanding the fact that no conventional bad-character direction had been given despite such evidence having been adduced.
[2010] EWCA Crim 941
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, David Clarke J, Lloyd Jones J)
22 April 2010
The drafting of an indictment required close attention to the realities of the case and none at all to the theoretical legal possibilities which might arise, in order to avoid the inclusion of unnecessary counts and the consequent wasting of scarce and valuable resources.
[2010] EWCA Crim 1034
CA (Crim Div) (Leveson LJ, Henriques J, Judge Roberts QC)
20 April 2010
Having considered fresh medical evidence as to an offender's state of mind at the time of his trial, the Court of Appeal quashed his convictions and substituted them with a finding that he had been unfit to plead but had done the acts alleged.
[2010] EWCA Crim 698
CA (Crim Div) (Ouseley J, Hickinbottom J)
4 March 2010
Taking into account the exceptional circumstances, a sentence of 30 months' detention imposed upon a 17-year-old offender for rape of a child under 13 was excessive where the offender had had consensual sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl, believing her to be nearly 15 years of age. The appropriate sentence was a 12 month detention and training order.
[2010] EWHC 661 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Langstaff J)
3 March 2010
The court gave guidance on the matters to be taken into account by a district judge when considering the committal of a young offender to the Crown Court for trial, in particular when assessing whether there was a real prospect that the young offender would be sentenced to detention for more than two years.
[2010] EWCA Crim 524
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ DBE, Ouseley J, Hickinbottom J)
3 March 2010
A total sentence of 12 months' imprisonment suspended for 18 months imposed following guilty pleas to two specimen charges of rape and two of indecent assault committed against a 13-year-old girl in 1973 was unduly lenient. The sentencing judge had wrongly placed too much weight on the fact that, between the commission of the offences and conviction, the offender had made admissions and been sentenced for similar offences against other children. A total sentence of eight years' immediate imprisonment was substituted.
[2010] EWCA Crim 350
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Simon J, Royce J)
11 February 2010
A conviction for rape of a young offender with learning difficulties had not been rendered unsafe by any omissions in the judge's summing up and the non-custodial sentence imposed, although arguably unduly lenient, was not amended as it was considered to be in the long-term public interest.
[2010] EWCA Crim 695
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Stadlen J, Cranston J)
9 February 2010
Sentences of life imprisonment with a minimum term of five years imposed on two offenders for multiple counts of rape were replaced by determinate sentences of 10 years, as a life sentence was to be reserved for those cases where the culpability of the offender was particularly high or the offence itself was particularly grave. Furthermore, on the information before the sentencing judge, the "dangerousness" test had not been met.
[2010] EWCA Crim 181
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Penry-Davey J, Irwin J)
3 February 2010
A sentence of two years' imprisonment suspended for two years imposed for rape was not unduly lenient due to the exceptional circumstances of the case.
[2010] EWCA Crim 312
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Bennett J, Field J)
29 January 2010
Convictions for rape when the offender was under 14 years old were unsafe, as the jury had not been given a direction on the presumption that a child under 14 was presumed to be incapable of crime.
[2010] EWCA Crim 174
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Bennett J, Field J)
27 January 2010
A judge had been correct to determine that an offender convicted of child rape was dangerous and to impose a sentence of life imprisonment, even though at the time of sentence the offender was effectively blind. The offender already had severely impaired vision at the time of the offending, and a sentence for public protection would not have properly reflected the public's revulsion nor the offender's depraved criminality.
[2010] EWCA Crim 119
CA (Crim Div) (Pitchford LJ, Owen J, Recorder of London)
22 January 2010
A conviction for rape was safe where the judge had used the term "submission" in juxtaposition to, and in comparison with, the exercise of free choice in order to differentiate between the two concepts, and the jury could not have taken submission to mean anything other than the absence of free consent.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2698
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Kitchin J, Holroyde J)
21 December 2009
The court expressed its opinion as to the reliability, admissibility and evidential value of low template DNA, primarily that obtained using the low copy number (LCN) process. It concluded that such DNA could be used to obtain profiles capable of reliable interpretation if the quantity of DNA that could be analysed was above the stochastic threshold.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2732
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Nicol J, Judge Scott-Gall)
16 December 2009
A jury had not reached inconsistent verdicts by acquitting an offender on one count of rape of his niece but finding him guilty on another as there were grounds on which it could have reached different views on the offences, including the age of the victim at the time of each alleged offence.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2804
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ (V-P), Rafferty J, Hedley J)
10 December 2009
Where a defendant was convicted on one count of rape but acquitted of the remaining three counts of rape and indecent assault in a case which depended entirely on the evidence of the alleged victim, the inconsistency in verdicts rendered the conviction unsafe.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2610
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Simon J, Royce J)
26 November 2009
A total sentence of 10 years' imprisonment imposed on an offender following his convictions for inflicting grievous bodily harm, rape and assault by penetration was unduly lenient where he had raped and sexually assaulted his partner while she was paralysed as a result of actions. It was replaced with a sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of nine years.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2457
CA (Crim Div) (Aikens LJ, Penry-Davey J, Sharp J)
24 November 2009
In the context of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.100 , the word "substantial" meant that the evidence concerned had something more than trivial probative value but it was not necessarily of conclusive probative value. Where evidence showed that the complainant in a case of alleged rape had made false allegations of sexual misconduct against another person, that evidence would have substantial probative value in relation to the central issue of her credibility and therefore consent.
[2009] NICA 53
CA (NI) (Girvan LJ, Coghlin LJ, Weir J)
13 November 2009
The Crown's closing speech in a trial for rape had been prejudicial in that it created a risk of the jury being emotionally swayed in favour of conviction and misled as to key pieces of evidence. The judge had failed to give directions to deal with the risk of unfairness.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2291
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Openshaw J, Sir Geoffrey Grigson)
10 November 2009
Fresh evidence in a rape case led to the conclusion that the verdict was unsafe and should be quashed; fundamentally, the new evidence established that the victim and the offender were not strangers and the basis of the prosecution case that the victim was raped by a stranger was fatally undermined. The court commented about the importance of defence statements under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and the importance for the prosecution to respond promptly and fully to a respondent's notice under the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 r.68.6 .
[2009] EWCA Crim 2294
CA (Crim Div) (Stanley Burnton LJ, Penry-Davey J, Sharpe J)
9 November 2009
A defendant's conviction for rape was safe where there was no proper evidential basis for alleging that the complainant's allegations of an unrelated sexual assault were false. If evidence of that allegation had been before the jury it would not have been reasonably capable of leading to a different verdict as there had, in any event, been a strong case against the defendant.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2445
CA (Crim Div) (Rafferty J, Henriques J)
30 October 2009
A sentence of two years' imprisonment imposed on an offender following her conviction for an offence of perverting the course of justice by making a false allegation of rape against her boyfriend was appropriate in light of her not guilty plea and the impact of such allegations upon the minds of jurors trying rape cases.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2221
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Penry-Davey J, Keith J)
13 October 2009
A total sentence of 12 months' detention imposed on a young offender following early pleas of guilty to rape and a variety of sexual acts with a child family member was not unduly lenient due to the offender's age and lack of maturity when the offending began, the fact that he brought the offending to an end of his own volition, his frank interview and plea and his upcoming release date.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2137
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Blair J, Judge Rogers QC)
6 October 2009
The trial judge had been entitled to rule out cross-examination of the complainant about an earlier allegation of rape against a third party pursuant to the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41, where to have allowed such questioning would have resulted in the trial having been used as a vehicle for investigating the truth or falsity of the earlier allegation.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2125
CA (Crim Div) (Kay LJ, Sweeney J, Slade J)
2 October 2009
A total sentence of 11 years' imprisonment imposed on an offender for rape, sexual assault and causing a child to watch a sexual act was unduly lenient, and was replaced with a sentence of 16 years' imprisonment. The offender, a foster carer, had abused a vulnerable child in his care repeatedly over a two-year period.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2231
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Keith J, Underhill J)
29 September 2009
A sentence of two years' detention was not appropriate in the case of a 14-year-old boy who had committed sexual offences against his eight-year-old cousin; the evidence showed that he did not pose a real risk to others and a custodial sentence would not be in the interests of his welfare. A supervision order for a term of three years was imposed instead.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2117
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Simon J, Coulson J)
11 September 2009
Convictions on alternative counts of indecent assault, which depended on sexual intercourse being the indecent act and which were added to a rape indictment more than 12 months after the alleged offences had taken place, circumvented the effect of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 Sch.2 para.10(a) in relation to the time limits for commencement of proceedings under s.6 of the Act and were quashed as an abuse of process.
[2009] EWCA Crim 2108
CA (Crim Div) (Elias LJ, Simon J, Coulson J)
10 September 2009
A sentence of eight years' detention for a 14-year-old offender who had raped his five-year-old sister and sexually assaulted two other young children was too high where the offender's IQ was below the learning disability range, and he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. A sentence of six year's detention was substituted.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1949
CA (Crim Div) (Goldring LJ, Bean J, Recorder of Kingston-Upon-Hull)
6 August 2009
Sentences of five years' detention in a young offender institution imposed on each of two offenders following early pleas of guilty to vaginal and anal rape were unduly lenient and were increased to seven years' detention, as there were three specific features that took the offence into a category two rape in the Sentencing Guideline Council's Definitive Sentencing Guideline on the Sexual Offences Act 2003: the element of abduction or detention, the fact that the attack was sustained, and that there was more than one offender.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1638
CA (Crim Div) (Richards LJ, Jack J, Judge Baker QC)
29 July 2009
The presence of a serving police officer on a jury in a criminal trial had not compromised the fairness of that trial because, although the case involved allegations of improper police conduct in relation to offences admitted as evidence of propensity, it did not involve a dispute of evidence between defence and police witnesses, and the officer serving on the jury could not be said to have been biased.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1718
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Anthony May (President QB), Foskett J, Hickinbottom J)
24 July 2009
The conviction of two men for the murder of a woman could not be impugned on appeal on the basis of the admission of bad character evidence or impeachable jury directions. The judge had been entitled to leave to the jury the question of whether one of the offenders had been more than a mere bystander but had encouraged the other to strangle the woman.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1730
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Butterfield J, Flaux J)
23 July 2009
Where a judge had failed to give credit for time spent on remand when sentencing an offender for rape, it was appropriate to deduct such time from the imposed minimum term.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1857
CA (Crim Div) (Richards LJ, Jack J, Judge Baker QC)
16 July 2009
A notional determinate sentence that equated to 30 years' imprisonment before a one-third reduction for guilty pleas, which had formed the basis for calculating the specified minimum term of a life sentence imposed for 28 counts relating to the sexual abuse of five boys, was excessive and reduced to 20 years.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1490
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Simon J, Blair J)
2 July 2009
Sentences of nine and six years' detention for two young offenders convicted of rape and, in one case, grievous bodily harm were unduly lenient where the female victim, who was just 16, had been subjected to a group sex attack and had caustic soda thrown over her. The sentences were increased to 14 and 9 years' detention.
[2009] EWCA Civ 644
CA (Civ Div) (Thorpe LJ, Wall LJ, Elias LJ)
1 July 2009
Where there were concurrent care and criminal proceedings relating to the same subject matter, it was essential that each court was kept fully informed of the other, and that the judge having the conduct of the care proceedings exercised his case management functions not only with a full knowledge of the situation in the criminal proceedings but with a view to ensuring that each hearing took place at an appropriate time.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1048
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ (V-P), Etherton LJ, Holroyde J)
19 May 2009
The minimum term of a sentence of life imprisonment imposed for four counts of indecent assault and 25 counts of rape was reduced from 19-and-a-half years to 14-and-half years. A notional determinate sentence of over 40 years was manifestly excessive in comparison with the broad range of similar authorities.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1057
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ (V-P), Openshaw J, Holroyde J)
15 May 2009
It was important that the specimen directions on delay were tailored to the facts of the particular case and spelt out to the jury, though the judge should have emphasised and particularised the difficulties faced by the defendant, the directions given were sufficient to ensure a fair trial.
[2009] EWCA Crim 840
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ, King J, Judge Barker QC)
14 May 2009
A sentence of imprisonment for public protection imposed when the judge was satisfied that the defendant posed a significant risk of serious harm to the public was wholly compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 art.3 and art.5 . It was wrong to attempt to re-define "significant risk" in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.225(1)(b) in terms of numerical probability.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1370
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ DBE, Davis J, Slade J DBE)
13 May 2009
Convictions for five counts of rape and one count of indecent assault were safe, as there were no particular circumstances that required the judge to have given directions relating to the age of the victims, delay, an elaborated good character direction, or a recent complaint direction.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1086
CA (Crim Div) (Toulson LJ, Sharp J, Judge Wadsworth QC)
13 May 2009
Convictions for child sex offences, including anal rape, were rendered unsafe where the jury had to have attached significance to medical evidence which was suggestive of abuse, and fresh medical evidence on the physical signs of child sex abuse later rendered that evidence entirely neutral. Whether or not the court considered a defendant guilty, convictions could only stand if they were founded upon properly reliable evidence.
[2009] EWCA Crim 1428
CA (Crim Div) (Dyson LJ, Ouseley J, Recorder of Kingston-Upon-Hull)
12 May 2009
Notwithstanding the fact that it had been imposed half-way through an eight-year sentence for rape, a 24-year extended sentence with a custodial term of 16 years was appropriate in the case of an offender who had, over some 20 years, regularly beaten, sexually assaulted and raped his partner and his two daughters.
[2009] EWCA Crim 906
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Rafferty J DBE, Beatson J)
7 May 2009
Following the decision in R. v BR (Sentencing: Extended Licences) [2003] EWCA Crim 2199, [2004] 1 W.L.R. 490, the adding of an order extending a licence period to a sentence of imprisonment for an offence committed before October 1, 1991, did not amount to the imposition of a heavier penalty than was available when the offence was committed and therefore, there was no violation of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 art.7.
[2009] EWCA Crim 913
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Mackay J, Beatson J)
27 March 2009
A total sentence of eight years' imprisonment imposed on an offender following his pleas of guilty to charges of false imprisonment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, rape and assault by penetration was unduly lenient and was replaced with a sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of five years, as the offender had a very bad record and clearly posed a risk of serious physical and psychological harm to the public.
[2009] EWCA Crim 86
CA (Crim Div) (Toulson LJ, Bean J, Judge Paget QC)
28 January 2009
A conviction for rape was upheld, as the judge had not been wrong to refuse to allow a defence witness statement to be adduced as hearsay when the witness could have been called, nor had he been wrong to allow a prosecution witness to be called, as her evidence was capable of supporting the prosecution case.
[2009] EWCA Crim 20
CA (Crim Div) (Stanley Burnton LJ, Gross J, Royce J)
23 January 2009
Convictions for rape and indecent assault were quashed where the Crown's reliance on hearsay evidence of bad character in the form of statements containing allegations of rape had circumvented the restrictions on hearsay evidence in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
[2009] EWCA Crim 87
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Pitchford J, Roderick Evans J)
21 January 2009
A sentence of six years' imprisonment imposed on an offender who had been found guilty on two counts of rape against his ex-wife was unduly lenient having regard to the grave breach of trust involved in the attacks and the offender's enjoyment of his ex-wife's discomfort at trial, and was increased to a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.
[2008] EWHC 3292 (Admin)
DC (Scott Baker LJ, MacDuff J)
5 December 2008
There was no right of appeal under the Extradition Act 2003 against a decision of a magistrates' court to give its consent under s.55(6) of the Act to a request from a requesting state that an extraditee serve a sentence of imprisonment imposed upon him in respect of a conviction that did not form the basis of his original extradition.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2908
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Swift J, Cranston J)
1 December 2008
On an application for a retrial under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.76(1), the reference in s.78(1) to "new and compelling evidence ..... in relation to the qualifying offence" did not mean that the new and compelling evidence had to relate directly to the allegation for which the defendant had been acquitted. In the instant case, where the relevant offence was rape, what mattered was that the new evidence should be admissible to prove that, contrary to his evidence at trial, the defendant had raped the complainant.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2790
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Owen J, Sweeney J)
26 November 2008
Since the amendments made by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 to Chapter 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Pt 12, which removed the statutory assumption in s.229(3) in relation to the risks in s.229(1), the court could make an assessment of an offender''''s dangerousness untrammelled by artificial constraints. However the sentencing option of imprisonment for public protection still remained an important sentencing alternative available to the court.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2859
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Rafferty J, Dobbs J)
19 November 2008
A conviction for indecent assault was quashed and a retrial was ordered as there was a chance that the conviction was unsafe as not all of the relevant admissible evidence had been before the jury.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2894
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ DBE, Foskett J, Judge Morris QC)
31 October 2008
A sentence of 10 years' imprisonment for rape, with an indefinite requirement to comply with the notification provisions under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, was not manifestly excessive given the aggravating features of the offence, despite exceeding the sentencing guidelines. The guidelines were to be treated as a guideline only, as a mechanistic approach could produce sentences that were inappropriate.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2557
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Mackay J, Dobbs J)
24 October 2008
In a judge's summing up in a rape trial the fact that the trauma of rape could cause feelings of shame and guilt that might inhibit a woman from making a complaint about rape was sufficiently well known to justify a comment to that effect. A judge had made comments in excess of what had been necessary by emphasising in detail the effect of rape in a relationship, and had not given a balanced summing up on the issue of delay in making a complaint, but on the evidence convictions for rape had been safe.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2691
CA (Crim Div) (Richards J, Swift J DBE, Sir Charles Gray)
22 October 2008
A sentence of detention for public protection with a minimum term of two years imposed for attempted rape was manifestly excessive as the offender was only 16, was of previous good character and had pleaded guilty at the earliest point. The sentence was replaced with one of three years' detention.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2669
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Cranston J, Sir Christopher Holland)
20 October 2008
A sentence of life imprisonment was justified in respect of an offender who had raped a woman a number of times at knifepoint in his home over a period of some two hours.
[2008] EWCA Crim 3229
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Tugendhat J, Judge Gilbert QC)
17 October 2008
A conviction for offences of rape and indecent assault of a child was safe despite fresh evidence that questioned the basis for the expert medical evidence at trial, as it did not undermine the evidence and credibility of the victim.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2485
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Judge LCJ, Owen J, Sweeney J)
16 October 2008
A sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of five years imposed for rape involving abduction was both correct in principle and in length.
[2008] EWCA Crim 2665
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ DBE, Henriques J, Judge Rook QC)
15 October 2008
Sentences of life imprisonment with minimum terms of 19 years and 13 years imposed on two offenders for murder were unduly lenient as the murder was intrinsically linked with sexual activity and therefore the judge should have followed the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sch.21 para.5(2)(e) and taken a starting point of 30 years' imprisonment. The minimum terms were replaced with terms of 24 years and 18 years.
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President QB), Simon J, Akenhead J)
31 July 2008
A three-year community order with a supervision requirement imposed on a 19-year-old man for meeting a child following sexual grooming, assaulting a child under 13 by penetration, and attempted rape of a child under 13 was unduly lenient and was replaced with a sentence of two years' imprisonment. Although the 11-year-old victim had consented to the offences, the law existed to protect children from themselves and a non-custodial sentence would be appropriate only in rare cases.
[2008] EWCA Crim 1923
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ (VP CA Crim), Grigson J, MacDuff J)
22 July 2008
A judge had not erred, and there was no duplicity, in allowing an amendment to a count in an indictment that had initially alleged rape by vaginal penetration so as to allege that the defendant had raped the victim by penetration either vaginally or anally.
[2008] EWCA Crim 1850
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Irwin J, Judge Radford)
17 July 2008
A 38-year-old's conviction for one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault with a child was unsafe where the fairness of the proceedings had been adversely affected by evidence of alleged sexual misconduct with an extended family member at the age of 14, introduced in order to show propensity to commit offences of the type charged.
[2008] EWCA Crim 1671
CA (Crim Div) (Maurice Kay LJ, Cox J, Recorder of Nottingham)
1 July 2008
A sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of five years imposed concurrently on each of three counts of rape of the offender's ex-wife was manifestly excessive and was replaced with a sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of five years.
[2008] EWCA Crim 1652
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Burnett J, Judge Roberts QC)
19 June 2008
A sentence of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of three years and 172 days, imposed for two counts of rape, was upheld but the minimum term was reduced to two years and 172 days because the judge had not made a satisfactory reduction for the offender's co-operation with the prosecution in an unconnected murder trial.
[2008] UKHL 37
HL (Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Carswell, Lord Mance)
18 June 2008
It was compatible with a child's rights under the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 art.8 to convict him of rape contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.5 in circumstances where the agreed basis of plea established that his offence also fell properly within the ambit of s.13.
[2008] EWCA Crim 1460
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Teare J, King J)
5 June 2008
Where a judge was passing sentences such as life imprisonment or imprisonment for public protection, which had such a significant effect on an individual, it was a matter of public interest that he should spell out what he was doing clearly so that the public and the defendant understood it.
[2008] EWCA Crim 1807
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Teare J, King J)
3 June 2008
Sentencing judges had a duty under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.174 to give reasons for a sentence. Where the guidelines indicated that a sentence of a particular kind or within a particular range would normally be appropriate, but the court imposed a sentence of a different kind or outside that range, the court must state its reasons for departing from the guidelines.
[2008] EWCA Crim 973
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Phillips LCJ, Bean J, Wilkie J)
7 May 2008
There were no grounds for finding that convictions of rape and indecent assault were unsafe where a statement given by the appellant's wife, implicating her husband, was admitted under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.114 after the trial judge had ruled that the wife was not a compellable witness against her husband under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 s.80.
[2008] EWCA Crim 738
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ DBE, Penry-Davey J, Judge Radford QC)
19 March 2008
A sentence of 20 years' imprisonment for 13 counts of sexual offences involving young children, including rape, was not manifestly excessive as although R. v Millberry (William Christopher) [2002] EWCA Crim 2891, [2003] 1 W.L.R. 546 indicated that the appropriate starting point for a campaign of rape was 15 years, that was a starting point and not a finishing point, and the definitive sentencing guidelines applied.
[2008] EWCA Crim 688
CA (Crim Div) (Toulson LJ, Jack J, Simon J)
13 March 2008
A defendant's failure to mention a number of facts before giving evidence at trial had not been capable of founding an adverse inference as they had not been in dispute, and therefore the jury should not have been given a direction under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 s.34.
[2008] EWCA Crim 434
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Pitchford J, Walker J)
4 March 2008
Appeals against convictions for numerous and various sexual offences were dismissed where the judge had correctly admitted evidence of the making of complaints under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.120(2) and evidence as to bad character, and had not misled the jury in his directions.
[2008] EWCA Crim 592
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President QB), Forbes J, Mackay J)
27 February 2008
A sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years where a 21-year-old uncle had raped and strangled his two-year-old niece was not excessive. The sentencing judge had taken account of the defendant's age and guilty plea in deciding not to impose a whole life order, and so those features could not be factored into calculation of the minimum term because it would have provided the defendant with a second discount.
[2008] EWCA Crim 693
CA (Crim Div) (Dyson LJ, Maddison J, Sir Richard Curtis)
26 February 2008
A sentence of life imprisonment for raping two young teenagers and for causing anal rape was appropriate in view of the gravity of the offences, the aggravating features, the offender's unstable character relating to sexual matters and the likelihood of his committing similar grave offences in the future.
[2008] EWCA Crim 183
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Pitchford J, Walker J)
12 February 2008
Counts on an indictment had been misjoined where there was no nexus between three counts of rape and a fourth count of doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice based on alleged pressure on the victim to withdraw previous allegations of rape made against the offender.
[2008] EWCA Crim 268
CA (Crim Div) (Leveson LJ, Wilkie J, Recorder of London)
1 February 2008
A sentence of three years' detention for public protection imposed on a 15-year-old boy who had pleaded guilty to nine counts of rape was not manifestly excessive taking into account the seriousness of the offences, the period over which they were committed, the vulnerability of the victims and the appellant's serious problems that needed addressing before it would be safe for him to be released into society.
[2008] EWCA Crim 198
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ, Saunders J, Sir Christopher Holland)
23 January 2008
A judge had erred in adopting a starting point of five years when applying sentencing guidelines for a rape case involving the use of violence over and above that which was necessary to commit the offence.
[2008] EWCA Crim 6
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Swift J, Teare J)
23 January 2008
Convictions for indecent assault and rape were unsafe where fresh evidence relating to the psychological condition of the accused at the time of the incidents could account for his belief that the complainant was a willing participant.
[2008] EWCA Crim 201
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Silber J, Underhill J)
23 January 2008
A sentence of six years' imprisonment imposed for rape was replaced with a sentence of four years' imprisonment as the standard five year starting point identified in the sentencing guidelines had not been followed.
[2007] EWCA Crim 3048
CA (Crim Div) (Moore-Bick LJ, Wilkie J, Recorder of Chester)
18 December 2007
Evidence provided by a prosecution witness under cross-examination by defence counsel was not evidence to which the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41 was aimed when given its natural meaning and could not be extended to cover such evidence.
[2007] EWCA Crim 3462
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Forbes J, Cox J)
18 December 2007
A judge's decision had not exceeded the bounds of a reasonable conclusion where he had determined not to discharge a jury that had learned during its deliberations of information that had not been in evidence during the trial, which was prejudicial to the defendant's case, and which might have influenced the jury's thinking.
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Openshaw J, Irwin J)
20 November 2007
Evidence from a witness recalling the diary entries of a complainant was not hearsay evidence but direct evidence and the judge had been correct to admit it.
[2007] EWCA Crim 3473
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Mackay J, Lloyd Jones J)
16 November 2007
A judge's directions on the issue of consent in the context of an alleged rape where the victim had been voluntarily intoxicated had been adequate and additional directions would only have served to confuse the jury further. The issue in the case came down to which individual had been telling the truth.
[2007] EWCA Crim 3198
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Cox J, Swift J)
9 November 2007
A judge had not erred in law in rejecting an offender's submission of no case to answer to four counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault, all of a child aged under 13, in circumstances where, despite inconsistencies in the victim's evidence, through the victim's various accounts the judge had a clear basis on which to form his conclusion that, applying the principles established in R. v Galbraith (George Charles) [1981] 1 W.L.R. 1039, it was for the jury and not for him to assess the victim's credibility.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2581
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President QB), Pitchford J, Openshaw J)
7 November 2007
The statutory restriction on evidence or questions about a complainant's previous sexual history contained in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41 applied to the trial of the sexual offences which were committed before the Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2887
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Swift J, Teare J)
29 October 2007
A judge erred by failing to refer to a defendant's defence and failing to highlight various difficulties in the case when asked by a jury, deep into their deliberations and after a majority verdict direction, to remind them of certain parts of a complainant's evidence.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2633
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Philips LCJ, Davis J, Simon J)
22 October 2007
The court allowed fresh evidence to be adduced on a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission where the offender had withheld that evidence at trial for tactical reasons, since the evidence would have had a significant effect on those proceedings and demonstrated his innocence in relation to the counts charged.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2550
CA (Crim Div) (Stanley Burnton J, Pitchford J)
12 October 2007
The court considered the correct approach to sentencing where offences contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 had been committed by adults against children who had given ostensible consent and appeared much older than their actual age.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2559
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Openshaw J, Underhill J)
8 October 2007
The circumstances of a case of indecent assault, attempted rape and attempted murder justified two concurrent sentences of life imprisonment but a minimum period should have been specified under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 s.82A as the punitive and retributive element of the sentence did not require detention for life. A minimum period of nine years was specified.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2223
CA (Crim Div) (Toulson LJ, Davies J, Underhill J)
5 September 2007
An offender's history of offending and the circumstances of a rape committed by him did not suggest that the criteria of dangerousness under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 were met and, therefore, it was not appropriate to impose on him a sentence of imprisonment for public protection.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2016
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President QB), Golding J, Beatson J)
31 July 2007
In change of law cases it was not open to the Criminal Cases Review Commission lawfully to apply a policy that it was under no obligation to have regard to the practice of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division and accordingly just as the court would not normally extend time in such cases, a conviction should not normally be referred on the basis of a change of law.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2018
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Davis J, Recorder of Nottingham)
31 July 2007
In a rape case, the judge had correctly directed the jury on consent and reasonable belief in consent, and had given the jury full and fair directions on the burden and standard of proof.
[2007] UKPC 51
PC (Trin) (Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Lord Carswell, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, Lord Mance)
23 July 2007
The modification in R. v Hayter (Paul Ali) [2005] UKHL 6, [2005] 1 W.L.R. 605 to the absolute prohibition against the use of out of court admissions as evidence against co-defendants did apply in Trinidad and Tobago, but the circumstances of the instant case fell outside the ambit of the Hayter principle.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2052
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, McCombe J, Openshaw J)
12 July 2007
The conclusion that a sentence of imprisonment for public protection was appropriate on a necessary hypothesis that there was a significant risk of serious harm from future offending had to be founded upon evidence rather than speculation or mere apprehension of some risk of future harm.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1699
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President QB), Simon J, Judge Goldsack QC)
11 July 2007
In circumstances where an offender had deceived a complainant and pressured her into having sexual intercourse more frequently than she would have done otherwise, the conclusive presumption under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.76 had no application as the complainant had not been deceived as to the nature or purpose of sexual intercourse.
[2007] EWCA Crim 2056
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Butterfield J, Wilkie J)
10 July 2007
A judge had erred in ruling that there was no case to answer where there was sufficient evidence of rape to be left to the jury. Issues of consent and capacity to consent to intercourse on charges of alleged rape should normally be left to the jury to determine.
[2007] EWHC 1798 (Admin)
DC (Lord Phillips LCJ, Griffith Williams J)
4 July 2007
Where a Crown Court judge had mistakenly sentenced a convicted rapist under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.227 instead of under the serious offences provisions of the Act, and had refused to correct the situation under the slip rule, the High Court had no jurisdiction to deal with an application for judicial review of the sentencing decision.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1691
CA (Crim Div) (Longmore LJ, Nelson J, Hedley J)
22 June 2007
A number of sexual offences committed against children, some of which had been carried out when the defendant had himself been very young and between which there had been a substantial time-gap, had been very grave but had not fallen into the category which merited life imprisonment.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1558
CA (Crim Div) (Longmore LJ, Nelson J, Calvert-Smith J)
19 June 2007
In a case where two children had delayed in complaining of sexual abuse by their stepfather, the judge had not gone beyond the bounds of permissible comment when setting out a number of possible reasons for the delay in disclosure.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1581
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Dobbs J, Lloyd Jones J)
13 June 2007
Where a case concerning allegations of rape and of aiding and abetting rape turned entirely on the credibility of the complainant as against the appellants, and evidence which went to that issue had been excluded, even though that had been done with the agreement of defence counsel, the convictions were quashed.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1669
CA (Crim Div) (Longmore LJ, Nelson J, Dame Heather Steel)
11 June 2007
A judge had adequately highlighted the difficulties a defendant faced in relation to the antiquity of allegations made in a historical sexual abuse case and had correctly directed the jury to look for independent evidence in support of those allegations.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1619
CA (Crim Div) (Gage LJ, Cresswell J, Holman J)
8 June 2007
Convictions for rape and indecent assault were overturned as unsafe following the admission of fresh evidence.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1571
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Calvert-Smith J, Dobbs J)
6 June 2007
An order under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 s.86 extending the licence period of a sentence until the end of the full length of the custodial term should not have been made where the psychiatric evidence was that the offender, who had been convicted several years after he committed the offence, was no longer a danger to the public.
[2007] EWCA Crim 3201
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Mitting J, Recorder of Swansea)
24 May 2007
The purpose of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41(3) was to strictly limit the ability of a defendant to question a complainant about her sexual behaviour; s.41(3)(c) made it clear that such cross-examination would only be permitted where there was evidence of sexual behaviour which was similar to that in question and where the similarity could not reasonably be explained as coincidence.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1454
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Cox J, Judge Loraine-Smith)
22 May 2007
A prolonged and brutal sexual attack by a stranger during which he had twice raped his victim and threatened to kill her merited a life sentence.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1357
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President QB), Goldring J, Swift J)
2 May 2007
A life sentence could be imposed without a minimum term if the seriousness of the offence, rather than the risk of reoffending, warranted it.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1193
CA (Crim Div) (Tuckey LJ, Bennett J, Langstaff J)
30 April 2007
In imposing a longer term under the Criminal Justice Act 1991 s.2(2)(b) for offences of rape, indecent assault and robbery, a judge had not been justified in increasing a sentence by fifty per cent as he had failed to guard against the risk of imposing an element of imprisonment for protection of the public twice over.
[2007] EWCA Crim 942
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Gibbs J, Roderick Evans J)
26 April 2007
On a consideration of whether a victim was not giving oral evidence through fear in accordance with the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.116, the victim's state of mind had to be assessed against the history of the case which had involved allegations of rape and domestic violence. Where the perpetrator had used threats against her and financial resources to try to stop her giving evidence, there was ample evidence of her continuing fear of giving evidence against him.
[2007] EWCA Crim 1182
CA (Crim Div) (Tuckey LJ, Bennett J, Langstaff J)
20 April 2007
Although a complainant had delayed for over three years from the date of two offences of rape before bringing the matter to the attention of the police, there had not been prejudice to a defendant, since he had been well able to provide a defence to the allegations against him.
[2007] EWCA Crim 941
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Phillips LCJ, Latham LJ (VP CA Crim), Treacy J)
2 April 2007
A total extended sentence of 11 years and six months' imprisonment following conviction for the buggery and rape of the appellant's long term partners on the basis that the sentence could not be criticised on the ground of totality or on the ground that the defendant had been sentenced under the regime prior to the Criminal Justice Act 2003
[2007] EWCA Crim 804
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President QB), Hallett LJ, Gloster J)
26 March 2007
If, through drink, or for any other reason, a complainant had temporarily lost her capacity to choose whether to have sexual intercourse, she was not consenting, and subject to the defendant's state of mind, if intercourse took place, that would be rape. However, where a complainant had voluntarily consumed substantial quantities of alcohol, but nevertheless remained capable of choosing whether to have intercourse, and agreed to do so, that would not be rape.
[2007] EWCA Crim 879
CA (Crim Div) (May LJ, Butterfield J, King J)
2 March 2007
A sentence of life imprisonment was justified in the case of the appellant, who had raped his wife after subjecting her to years of domestic abuse.
[2007] UKPC 9
CA (Bah) (Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Scott of Foscote, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Carswell, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood)
26 February 2007
The power to increase a sentence had to be exercised sparingly and only in cases where the sentence imposed by the trial judge was manifestly inadequate. An applicant for leave to appeal or an appellant had to be given an indication by the appellate court of its intention to consider an increase in sentence and an opportunity to address the court on the increase or to ask for leave to withdraw.
[2007] EWCA Crim 485
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Dobbs J, Walker J)
16 February 2007
Where a defendant had been indicted on two counts of rape, a judge had been entitled to direct that alternative verdicts of indecent assault could be returned where the jury was sure that sexual intercourse had occurred but the issue of consent could not be determined, as the statutory time limit did not apply.
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Gibbs J, Roderick Evans J)
24 January 2007
A judge had erred when imposing a sentence by using too low a starting point, and had failed to take sufficient account of the aggravating features of an offence.
[2006] EWCA Crim 3120
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Steele J, Judge Loraine-Smith)
12 December 2006
Fresh evidence did not render a conviction for rape unsafe as the evidence, which related to an alleged assault on the complainant when she was younger, would not have affected the complainant's credibility in the eyes of the jury. Further, there was no reasonable explanation for the defence not to have adduced the evidence at trial.
[2006] EWCA Crim 3251
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Mitting J, Teare J)
11 December 2006
A judge had been correct to impose a community order on a defendant following an attempted rape as his early guilty plea, youth and remorse meant that the custodial term imposed would have been very short and far less than would have enabled any sort of assistance to be given to the defendant by way of education.
[2006] EWHC 3041 (QB)
QBD (Nelson J)
29 November 2006
A chief constable was not liable for the tortious and criminal acts of an off-duty police officer since the officer had been on a "frolic of his own" when committing the acts.
[2006] EWCA Crim 2988
CA (Crim Div) (Tuckey LJ, Holman J, Hodge J)
10 November 2006
A conviction was quashed and a retrial ordered in circumstances where a judge had gone beyond the relevant propensity of a previous conviction and directed the jury as to its applicability in demonstrating characteristics that were irrelevant to the issues in the case.
[2006] EWCA Crim 2984
CA (Crim Div) (May LJ, David Clarke J, Teare J)
7 November 2006
A judge had been correct to allow the Crown to adduce evidence of a defendant's bad character and propensity through authenticated evidence of previous convictions from another jurisdiction for offences of a similar type.
[2006] EWCA Crim 3077
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Holland J, Judge Loraine-Smith)
1 November 2006
Offences of rape that occurred within a domestic marital context did not justify a reduction in sentence, and judges should have regard to a defendant's culpability, the perceived risk that he posed to society, the level of harm inflicted and the impact of the offences on the victim.
[2006] EWCA Crim 3038
CA (Crim Div) (Smith LJ, David Clarke J, Judge Chapman)
17 October 2006
Convictions for rape, attempted rape and indecent assault were quashed where the judge had shown bias towards the Crown case, had given inadequate jury directions and had erred in ruling that there was sufficient evidence to go to the jury on two of the counts.
[2006] EWCA Crim 2945
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Henriques J, Gloster J)
16 October 2006
A defendant's failure to disclose his status as HIV positive did not affect the issue of consent in relation to a charge of rape and should have been excluded from a jury as unfairly prejudicial under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 s.78 .
[2006] EWCA Crim 3376
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Henriques J, Gloster J)
16 October 2006
A judge had been correct in imposing sentences of life imprisonment with a minimum term of six years on two 19 year old defendants, as the nature and levels of violence used to commit the offences warranted an assessment of dangerousness.
[2006] EWCA Crim 2305
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Simon J, Lloyd-Jones J)
6 October 2006
A sentence of two and a half years' imprisonment for rape by a husband of his estranged wife had not been unduly lenient where the wife had not been especially vulnerable within the guidelines set out in R v Millberry (2002) EWCA Crim 2891 , (2003) 1 W.L.R. 546 .
[2006] EWCA Crim 2306
CA (Crim Div) (Hallett LJ, Silber J)
13 September 2006
Detention and training orders of 24 months and 18 months imposed on the defendants for respective offences of rape and aiding and abetting that rape were unduly lenient and were replaced by sentences of four years' detention and three years and six months' detention.
[2006] EWCA Crim 2394
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Leveson J, Davis J)
12 September 2006
A judge had been correct to impose an automatic life sentence for rape where the defendant presented a continuing significant risk to the public and the offence had been conducted against a violent background.
[2006] EWCA Crim 2325
CA (Crim Div) (Hughes LJ, Mackay J, Treacy J)
25 August 2006
Although a judge had been wrong to refuse leave to cross examine a complainant in a sexual abuse case on her previous bad character in order to determine her propensity for truthfulness it could not be said that the conviction was unsafe.
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Gloster J, Dobbs J)
2 August 2006
A conviction for rape was not safe as fresh evidence might reasonably have affected the jury's decision to find a guilty verdict.
[2006] EWCA Crim 1884
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President), Crane J, Dobbs J)
28 July 2006
The object of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41 was to prevent anyone, prosecution or defence, from asking questions that might cause embarrassment or difficulty to a complainant, male or female, about matters that were entirely personal, interference with which would damage the complainant's autonomy. The protective effect of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 s.78 was perfectly apt to be deployed in an appropriate case where it was thought by the judge that the impact of s.41 of the 1999 Act on a defendant might produce an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings.
[2006] EWCA Crim 1901
CA (Crim Div) (Sir Igor Judge (President), Crane J, Dobbs J)
27 July 2006
The appellant, who had been charged with sexual offences against his daughter, should have been allowed to cross-examine her about a sexual allegation that she had previously made where there was evidence to show that it was false; however, that failing did not render his convictions unsafe.
[2006] EWCA Crim 1891
CA (Crim Div) (Gage LJ, Bean J, Judge John Griffith Williams QC)
7 July 2006
Despite fresh evidence detailing the contamination of DNA samples, there was sufficient evidence linking a defendant to a violent rape attack for his conviction to be safe.
[2006] EWCA Crim 1335
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Phillips LCJ, Sir Igor Judge (President), Henriques J, Roderick Evans J, Fulford J)
8 June 2006
The sentencing judge had been entitled, pursuant to sentencing guidelines, to accord a reduction in sentence of one-third where the offenders had pleaded guilty at the first reasonable opportunity. The minimum term to be served by one of the offenders for counts of rape of a baby was increased to reflect the fact that the starting point adopted by the sentencing judge was, in the circumstances, unduly lenient.
[2006] EWCA Crim 1578
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Penry-Davey J, Walker J)
8 June 2006
An extended sentence comprising three years' detention and an extended licence period of two years imposed on the offender in respect of an offence of attempted rape was unduly lenient. A sentence of detention for public protection was substituted.
[2006] EWCA Crim 1372
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Aikens J, Goldring J)
6 June 2006
A sentence of five years and six months' imprisonment imposed on a taxi driver who had followed a drunken passenger into her own home and had unprotected sexual intercourse with her whilst she was asleep on the sofa was found to be unduly lenient and increased to eight years.
[2006] EWCA Crim 1332
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Roderick Evans J, Underhill J)
10 May 2006
A judge had been correct to allow as admissible a defendant's previous convictions as evidence of propensity to commit offences of the type alleged in circumstances where the complainant's evidence had established a case to answer.
[2006] EWCA Crim 853
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Andrew Smith J, Judge Goddard QC)
25 April 2006
There was no reason to interfere with the conviction and sentence of a teenage boy in relation to four counts of rape of a very young boy. Despite inconsistencies between the differing accounts of the victim and two young witnesses the trial judge had been entitled to conclude that it was for the jury to consider the victim's reliability as a witness.
[2006] EWCA Crim 821
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Phillips LCJ, Andrew Smith J, Wilkie J)
12 April 2006
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.5 , which created the offence of rape of a child under 13 even where a defendant reasonably believed that the child was 13 or over, was compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 Art.6(2) .
[2006] EWCA Crim 706
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Butterfield J, Underhill J)
29 March 2006
Convictions for two counts of rape were safe where, in the circumstances, the admission of fresh evidence would not have affected the decision reached by the jury at trial.
[2006] EWCA Civ 151
CA (Civ Div) (May LJ, Latham LJ, Longmore LJ)
9 February 2006
In asylum proceedings, where it was the secretary of state's case that the asylum seeker had fabricated claims of rape, on the material available it was clear the secretary of state had made no concession to the effect that it was possible that the asylum seeker had been raped.
[2006] EWCA Crim 400
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Swift J, Judge Radford QC)
6 February 2006
Discretionary life sentences for two counts of rape were replaced with imprisonment for public protection because the offences, although serious, were not such as to justify discretionary life sentences.
[2006] EWCA Crim 246
CA (Crim Div) (Gage LJ, Nelson J, Sir John Alliott)
3 February 2006
No undue pressure was placed on the jury in a criminal trial to reach its verdicts on charges of rape and assault by penetration against the appellant.
[2006] EWCA Crim 283
CA (Crim Div) (Gage LJ, Nelson J, Sir John Alliott)
31 January 2006
A determined minimum term of one year and three months' imprisonment following a life sentence for the rape of a girl aged fourteen years was unduly lenient given the age of the victim and the defendant's related antecedents. A minimum term of two years and six months' imprisonment was substituted.
[2006] EWCA Crim 111
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Burton J, Judge Beaumont QC)
18 January 2006
A three-year sentence was substituted for a sentence of four years and three months' detention for five counts of rape of a child under the age of 13. The original sentence was manifestly excessive in light of the proximity in ages between the offender and the complainant and the offender's plea of guilty.
[2006] EWHC 95 (Admin)
DC (Smith LJ, Bean J)
13 January 2006
Youth courts had erred in deciding that, pursuant to the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 s.24 , the appropriate mode of trial for youths charged with robbery was the Crown Court as there was no real prospect of the imposition of a custodial sentence of over two years in length. A youth court was entitled to conclude that it was appropriate that a child charged with rape be tried in the Crown Court.
[2005] UKPC 48
PC (Jam) (Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Scott of Foscote, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Carswell, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood)
15 December 2005
The appellant's conviction for capital murder was safe where it was clear that the jury had convicted on the basis that the appellant himself had killed the victim; therefore, the fact that the judge's directions on joint enterprise had been fundamentally flawed was not relevant and did not affect the safety of the conviction.
[2005] EWCA Crim 3426
CA (Crim Div) (Smith LJ, Jack J, Judge Milford QC)
9 December 2005
A judge's refusal to allow the defence to put a specific question to a rape victim's mother on the grounds that it was irrelevant was wrong as it was possible that an answer could have been given that was relevant to the issue in the case. However, the application had been rightly refused as the court was unable to envisage any answer which might have significantly helped the defendant's case.
[2005] EWCA Crim 3119
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Gibbs J, Judge Goldsack QC)
8 December 2005
In the circumstances fresh evidence that showed discrepancies between a victim's allegations of rape made to the NSPCC and her evidence at trial did not render the offender's conviction for rape unsafe.
[2005] EWCA Crim 3135
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Phillips LCJ, Rafferty J, Mackay J)
7 December 2005
Hearsay evidence adduced by the Crown satisfied the requirements of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.120 and was admissible under that provision, and alternatively the trial judge was entitled to exercise his discretion under s.114 of the Act to admit the evidence on the basis that it was in the interests of justice.
[2005] EWCA Crim 3549
CA (Crim Div) (Moses LJ, Burton J, Judge Goldsack QC)
15 November 2005
Where the case on similarity between two allegations of rape was weak, it was up to the trial judge to give a clear direction to focus the minds of the jury on the relevant issue and on whether there was a sufficient relationship between the facts and not mere coincidence.
[2005] EWCA Crim 2963
CA (Crim Div) (Hooper LJ, Leveson J, Calvert-Smith J)
24 October 2005
Where a defendant had previously been convicted of wounding with intent and acquitted of attempted murder, a subsequent prosecution for murder following the death of the victim from her injuries was not in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights Protocol 7 Art.4 since the new fact of the death of the victim had emerged since the first trial.
[2005] EWCA Crim 2821
CA (Crim Div) (Gage LJ, Holland J, Judge Wide)
19 October 2005
A sentence of 4 years and 4 months' imprisonment was unduly lenient for two counts of rape where the offences had been carried out late at night and had involved the threat of the use of a knife, a degree of planning and the degradation of the victim.
[2005] EWCA Crim 2774
CA (Crim Div) (Gage LJ, Holland J, Judge Wide)
19 October 2005
A specified minimum term of 8 years' imprisonment following a life sentence for the attempted rape of a boy of 10 years of age was manifestly excessive given the defendant's previous good character, his early guilty plea and a failure by the trial judge to take account of the period of time he had spent on remand.
[2005] EWCA Crim 2077
CA (Crim Div) (Mance LJ, Elias J, Sir Charles Mantell)
4 August 2005
On the facts, a hospital order with an indefinite restriction order imposed under the Mental Health Act 1983 s.41 offered the public very great protection from the offender who had been convicted of repeat sexual offences against young boys and who suffered from mental impairment, which could not be treated through a term of life imprisonment.
[2005] EWCA Crim 1792
CA (Crim Div) (Clarke LJ, Hughes J, Dobbs J)
22 June 2005
The appellant had not been prejudiced by delay where he had faced trial on historic complaints of sexual abuse as he had had a number of ways of challenging the victim's evidence other than mere denial.
[2005] EWCA Crim 1543
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Ouseley J, Davis J)
9 June 2005
The observation in R v Millberry (2002) EWCA Crim 2891, (2003) 1 WLR 546, that a sentence should be significantly shorter for a young offender, was a general observation and was not designed to be of invariable application.
[2005] EWCA Crim 1481
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Gloster J, Judge Mettyear)
26 May 2005
On the facts of the case the verdicts convicting the appellant on one count of rape and acquitting him on another were not logically inconsistent.
[2005] EWCA Crim 1413
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Hedley J, Royce J)
26 May 2005
Where an appeal against conviction was based on the alleged incompetence of defence counsel and solicitors although an appellant might not have to show that the conduct at issue was flagrant or unreasonable there had to be conduct or a failure which could be criticised which led to the conclusion that the conviction was unsafe.
[2005] EWCA Crim 1367
CA (Crim Div) (Maurice Kay LJ, Silber J, Judge Saunders QC)
12 May 2005
The judge had been entitled under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41 not to permit the offender, who had been charged with rape, to pursue certain lines of questioning concerning the complainant's sexual experience for the purpose impugning the credibility of the complainant as a witness.
[2005] EWCA Crim 1056
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Treacy J, Wilkie J)
25 April 2005
A sentence of 8 years' imprisonment was the correct starting point for an offence of rape where there were aggravating features of the use of a knife, a degree of planning, a persistence of attack and previous convictions.
[2005] EWCA Crim 493
CA (Crim Div) (Judge LJ, Curtis J, McCombe J)
3 March 2005
The judge had wrongly excluded video and photographic evidence relating to an adult relationship between an alleged victim of child abuse and the defendant under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41 when such evidence was crucial to the issue that the jury had to decide.
[2005] EWCA Crim 483
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, David Clarke J, Christopher Clarke J)
28 February 2005
There was no inflexible requirement for a judge to obtain psychiatric or psychological reports before imposing a life sentence. The fact that the appellant continued to rape or indecently assault each time he was in the company of young girls indicated that he would remain a danger for an unknown length of time.
CA (Crim Div) (Mance LJ, Moses J, Royce J)
22 February 2005
Where a witness gave mistaken evidence regarding certain dates in a trial for indecent assault and rape, whilst it would have been preferable to allow the defence application to recall the witness, failure to do so did not render the convictions unsafe.
[2005] EWCA Crim 334
CA (Crim Div) (Jack J, Judge Radford QC)
11 February 2005
It was in the public interest that work was done with a 15-year-old appellant, who had committed a series of sexual offences against younger family members, to undo the harm he had suffered by way of a severely disadvantaged childhood and sexual abuse. Given that the appellant was receiving appropriate therapy whilst in custody, a sentence of 30 months' detention was not manifestly excessive.
[2005] EWCA Crim 192
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Smith LJ, Owen J)
2 February 2005
In exceptional cases a non custodial sentence was appropriate for an offence of rape of a child under 13 years old. Digital penetration of the anus of a child under 13 years old, contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.6, was a very serious offence that could justify a life sentence. The court gave preliminary non prescriptive guidance as to the approach to sentencing in relation to offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
[2005] EWCA Crim 259
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ (V-P), Smith LJ, Owen J)
2 February 2005
A term of imprisonment of three years was unduly lenient in respect of an attempted rape and other sexual offences where there had been a course of conduct over a number of years by the elderly grandfather of a young child. Taking into account the need for the defendant to look after his sick wife the appropriate sentence was one of four years and six months' imprisonment.
[2005] EWCA Crim 242
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Toulson J, Bean J)
28 January 2005
Where the evidence on charges of indecent assault and attempted rape was so weak that the case should not be left to the jury a judge should not speculate as to the jury's view of the evidence but rather should adopt an analytical appoach applying the correct legal test.
[2005] EWCA Crim 76
CA (Crim Div) (Auld LJ, Beatson J, Wakerley J)
17 January 2005
In circumstances where a lengthy sentence of 13 years' imprisonment had been imposed, which would ordinarily lead to a period on licence of four years, it was not appropriate to pass a lengthy extended sentence.
[2004] EWCA Crim 3155
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, Judge Rhys Davies QC)
10 December 2004
The appellant's conviction for rape was safe where he was not substantially prejudiced by the Crown's decision to prosecute after indicating to him that it was not going to continue with the proceedings, and the trial judge had given a full and careful direction to the jury in relation to a hostile witness and a complainant who had shown herself to be untruthful. Given the appellant's previous good character, a sentence of eight years' imprisonment was quashed and a sentence of five years substituted.
[2004] EWCA Crim 3156
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Hughes J, Simon J)
9 December 2004
In a rape case, where a judge ought to have allowed re-examination as to the size of the appellant's penis but such evidence would not have had a significant effect on the verdict, the failure to do so did not render the conviction unsafe.
[2004] EWCA Crim 3103
CA (Crim Div) (Maurice Kay LJ, McCombe J, David Clarke J)
8 December 2004
In a trial in respect of a number of sexual offences, an application to cross-examine the complainant about what she had said in the past concerning her previous relationships with men was rightly rejected as being contrary to the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41 . There was nothing inconsistent with guilty verdicts where sexual acts had been admitted, and acquittals where the sexual act itself had been denied and the issue had been consent.
[2004] EWCA Crim 3216
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Bell J, Hughes J)
3 December 2004
An extended sentence of 17 years' imprisonment and four years' extended licence period for a series of sexual offences was manifestly excessive given the significance of pleas of guilty. Whilst an extended sentence was not to be ordered to run consecutively with another extended sentence there was nothing wrong in principle, where some offences occurred before 1998 and some after, in ordering an extended sentence to run consecutively with a determinative sentence.
[2004] EWHC 2954 (Admin)
DC (Collins J, Stanley Burnton J)
1 December 2004
The exercise of the power of the magistrates' court to rule that proceedings before it were a nullity was dependent on the facts of each case and any error was required to be remedied immediately. On a true construction of the legislation, offences under s.6 and s.7 of the New Forest (Confirmation of the Byelaws of the Verderers of the New Forest) Order 1999 of depasturisation of animals without payment of fees were of a continuing nature and time began to run for limitation purposes from the date on which the animals were identified.
[2004] EWHC 2859 (Admin)
DC (Rose LJ, Pitchford J)
25 November 2004
The defendant newspaper was guilty of contempt in circumstances where the publication of an article identifying two men as having answered bail in connection with gang rape allegations created a substantial risk at the time of publication that the course of justice would be seriously impeded or prejudiced, as the article would have been available to the complainant who would have been vulnerable in cross-examination on her identification evidence.
[2004] EWCA Crim 3386
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Davis J, Judge John Griffith Williams QC)
24 November 2004
In the circumstances, a conviction was unsafe where the judge had failed when summing up to put the very core of the appellant's defence to charges of rape and indecent assault of his former girlfriend.
[2004] EWCA Crim 3154
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Hughes J, Simon J)
22 November 2004
A sentence of detention for various sexual offences, for a young offender who had been sexually abused as a child, had not been wrong in principle but was substituted by an extended sentence including an extended period on licence to enable assessment for treatment on a sex offender programme, as such a programme was unavailable to young offenders in custody.
[2004] EWCA Crim 3022
CA (Crim Div) (Clarke LJ, Douglas Brown J, Gibbs J)
12 November 2004
Where an appellant was tried for rape, and the case depended on the credibility of the victim as opposed to the credibility of the appellant, failure to direct the jury on the relevance of recent complaint rendered the conviction unsafe.
[2004] EWCA Crim 2975
CA (Crim Div) (Maurice Kay LJ, McCombe J, Clarke J)
11 November 2004
In the circumstances evidence of distress was admissible to explain an inconsistent statement made by a victim of rape. The exercise of discretion not to warn the jury of the need for caution when considering the victim's evidence was not Wednesbury unreasonable.
PC (PI) (Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Baroness Hale of Richmond)
28 October 2004
On the balance of advantage proceedings in a criminal trial should not be stayed while the legality of the proceedings was determined in circumstances where it would be unjust to delay the trials and where the petitioners had been granted special leave to appeal.
[2004] EWCA Crim 2672
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Henriques J, Dobbs J)
25 October 2004
Sentencing guidelines were given for rape and assault by penetration under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.1 and s.2. The appropriate starting point for rape would be five years' imprisonment, while that for assault by penetration would be in the region of four years' imprisonment.
[2004] EWCA Crim 2270
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Treacy J, Sir Edwin Jowitt)
26 July 2004
The making of some discount in the fixing of a notional determinate sentence was not a precise mathematical exercise. Judges were required to be alive to the risk of double counting and should perform a mental balancing exercise in arriving at an appropriate discount. They must make an allowance in relation to the public risk element of the term and ensure that it was not reflected in fixing the notional determinate sentence.
[2004] EWCA Crim 2283
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Gage J, Sir Richard Rougier)
2 July 2004
A judge had erred in refusing an application under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 s.23 for a witness statement to be admitted in evidence where the witness was abroad. The statement was capable of corroborating the defendant's alibi in a case of rape and the judge ought to have exercised his discretion in the defendant's favour.
[2004] EWCA Crim 1705
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Gage J, Sir Richard Rougier)
29 June 2004
Convictions for rape and indecent assault were safe despite considerable delay between the offences and trial. The trial judge had been right to refuse an application for a stay for abuse of process and a submission of no case to answer. He had correctly concluded that the matter was one for the jury with the assistance of directions on prejudice and delay.
[2004] EWCA Crim 1393
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Hunt J, Judge Radford)
11 June 2004
The appellant had failed to follow the correct procedure in seeking to cross-examine the complainant in a prosecution for rape either on the ground of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41(3) and (5) or as a result of falling outside the restriction imposed by s.41 of the Act in relation to questioning about a complainant's sexual history.
[2004] EWCA Crim 1320
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, Holland J, Judge Michael Baker QC)
25 May 2004
The judge had given an inadequate direction in relation to evidence of recent complaint in failing to draw the jury's attention to inconsistencies in that evidence. In the light of the importance of that evidence on the respective credibility of the complainant and the appellant, it could not be said that the appellant's conviction was safe.
[2004] EWCA Crim 2229
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Holman J, Nelson J)
20 May 2004
Where the only evidence as to an indecent assault by forced oral sex was a defendant's own evidence that a complainant had voluntarily kissed his penis such evidence was not material that could enable a jury to convict.
[2004] EWCA Crim 1254
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Douglas Brown J, Judge Paget QC)
19 May 2004
A judge had rightly recognised that the admission of evidence in relation to the appellant's previous conviction would cause undue prejudice to him. However, he had failed in removing the prejudice to the appellant by not discharging the jury from considering the charges against him or by giving a strong and consistent direction that the previous conviction was irrelevant to matters of propensity.
[2004] EWCA Crim 1157
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Poole J, Sir Charles Mantell)
28 April 2004
Where a defendant was standing trial for rape and a juror disclosed she had on an earlier occasion been raped, and the man accused had been acquitted, there was no reason for the juror to be disqualified. The judge had failed to give a proper good character direction and in the circumstances that rendered the conviction unsafe.
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Aikens J, Common Serjeant)
22 April 2004
Where defendants were sentenced for a number of offences and where part of those sentences were unlawful but to quash them would reduce the overall sentences to less than the offences merited, the Court of Appeal had the power under Criminal Appeals Act 1968 s.11(3) to change the sentences to ensure justice was met.
[2004] EWCA Crim 292
CA (Crim Div) (Judge LJ, Nelson J, McCombe J)
18 March 2004
The appellant's conviction in 2002 of the rape of his wife in 1970 was not an abuse of process as a man could be properly convicted of raping his wife when the incident occurred before the decision of R v R (1992) 1 AC 599.
[2004] EWCA Crim 728
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Leveson J, Judge Zucker QC)
16 March 2004
An extended sentence of 14 years, consisting of a 12-year custodial element, was undoubtedly at the upper end of the bracket and severe. However, it was not manifestly excessive given this had been the defendant's fourth victim and he had committed the offences whilst on licence following release from a sentence for a similar offence. Given the danger the defendant posed to women the judge was right to pass a longer than commensurate sentence.
[2004] EWCA Crim 946
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Goldring J, Keith J)
4 March 2004
The defendant's conviction for rape was safe as the judge had been correct to refuse to allow cross-examination, under s.41 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, on the victim's past activity as a prostitute. There had been no breach of the defendant's right to a fair trial by refusing to allow cross-examination.
[2004] EWCA Crim 1220
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Hedley J, Judge Stephens QC)
20 February 2004
The defendant's conviction was unsafe as the judge had wrongly refused an application for leave to cross-examine the victim, and had put to the defendant, evidence of previous sexual acts of a similar nature. The judge's attention had wrongly been drawn to s.41(3)(c)(ii) Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 when the matter should have been considered under s.41(3)(c)(i).
[2004] EWCA Crim 309
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Gray J, Aikens J)
20 February 2004
A judge had been entitled to allow a trial for counts of indecent assault, rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm to proceed although an investigation into complaints regarding the appellant carried out over ten years earlier had concluded with a decision not to prosecute. Given the alleged sequence of events and the nature of the allegations made, the judge had been entitled to give a direction that the evidence of each of the complainants was capable of mutually supporting each other.
[2004] EWCA Crim 310
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Penry-Davey J, Hedley J)
19 February 2004
Investigations discontinued prior to April 1 1997 did not amount to a criminal investigation invoking the committal regime under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 Part I . However a hybrid committal could take place if previous investigations had been put on hold and resurrected following the 1996 Act coming into force.
[2004] EWCA Crim 374
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Hedley J, Pitchers J)
9 February 2004
The defendant's conviction for rape, robbery, indecent assault and attempted robbery was safe as there had been no application made to sever the indictment at trial and had it been made it would have been refused. Witness evidence was rightly admitted as it was relevant to the consistency of one of the victims and was not evidence of recent complaint. The direction on lies had been full and covered everything.
[2004] EWCA Crim 105
CA (Crim Div) (Thomas LJ, McCombe J, Recorder of Middlesbrough)
29 January 2004
Fresh evidence from a new witness was incapable of belief by any jury and therefore the appellant's conviction for rape was safe. However he had insufficient means to pay the costs orders imposed upon him which would be quashed.
[2004] EWCA Crim 50
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Curtis J, Forbes J)
22 January 2004
A conviction for rape was unsafe where a medical expert who had given evidence had been discredited and new medical evidence indicated that the victim's anal injury was capable of a number of explanations other than penile penetration.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3731
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Woolf of Barnes LCJ, Gibbs J, Fulford J)
9 December 2003
A total sentence of four years' imprisonment for indecent assault, indecency with a child and attempted rape was unduly lenient, having regard to the guidelines in R v Millberry (2003) and the principle of double jeopardy, a sentence of seven years would be substituted. It was prosecuting counsel's duty to bring to a trial judge's attention any guideline cases before sentence was passed and to provide copies of the cases.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3435
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, Cresswell J, Jack J)
28 November 2003
New information given by a complainant at her post trial interview cast such doubt upon her credibility that convictions based upon her evidence were set aside. A re-trial was not appropriate because of the lengthy periods already spent in prison.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3641
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Pitchford J, Recorder of Cardiff)
24 November 2003
A conviction for various sexual offences was unsafe where the two victims gave mutually corroborative evidence, as the judge's direction on collusion and possible contamination was somewhat garbled and no guidance was given as to the approach the jury should take.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3765
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Sir Edwin Jowitt, Recorder of Manchester )
24 November 2003
This case is reported at (2004) Crim. L.R. 373. A full Lawtel Case Report will be published shortly and the official transcript may be ordered from Trancripts Express on 020 7025 2775.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3184
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, Cresswell J, Davis J)
14 November 2003
Convictions for rape and grievous bodily harm were safe where the jury had reached their verdicts having heard all the evidence and having been sufficiently directed in the summing up.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3490
CA (Crim Div) (Judge LJ, Silber J, Cox J)
13 November 2003
A conviction for rape was unsafe as there was no possible explanation for the inconsistent verdicts of the jury. The court gave general advice as to when expert evidence of false memory syndrome should be admitted.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3188
CA (Crim Div) (May LJ, McKinnon J, Judge Jeremy Roberts QC)
5 November 2003
A sentence of 18 months detention and training order for an offence of indecent assault on a female was not manifestly excessive. A sentence different from that recommended in a pre sentence report was not wrong in principle and the judge had taken into account all relevant mitigating factors.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3080
CA (Crim Div) (Dyson LJ, Mitting J, Judge Fabyan Evans)
23 October 2003
Where a defendant gave a no comment interview a judge should only give the jury a s.34 Criminal Justice and Public Order 1994 direction on adverse inferences if facts relied on at trial were in issue, to avoid mistakes the judge should discuss the proposed direction with counsel and specify facts relied on.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2973
CA (Crim Div) (Kay LJ, Poole J, Treacy J)
23 October 2003
The Court of Appeal gave sentencing guidelines for sexual offences. Eleven out of the twelve cases referred by the Attorney-General were held to be unduly lenient and accordingly those sentences were increased.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2754
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Henriques J, Grigson J)
21 October 2003
A rape conviction was unsafe where the trial judge had refused the appellant's counsel leave, under s.41 Youth Justice And Criminal Evidence Act 1999, to cross-examine the complainant in relation to occasions before and after the rape complaint when she was alleged to have had consensual sexual intercourse with the appellant. The evidence was relevant to the issue of consent and its exclusion deprived the appellant of a fair trial.
[2003] EWCA Crim 3212
CA (Crim Div) (Dyson LJ, Mitting J, Judge Fabyan Evans)
21 October 2003
A total sentence of five years' imprisonment for indecent assault and attempted rape on the defendant's grandchildren was not manifestly excessive, the judge could have passed consecutive sentences for the indecent assaults but had had in mind the principle of totality.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2750
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Forbes J, Aikens J)
15 October 2003
The defendant's appeal against her conviction for murder failed as the substance of the material on which fresh medical evidence was based was known at trial and the defendant had a full opportunity to put forward her defence at trial.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2736
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Penry-Davey J, David Clarke J)
3 October 2003
In all the circumstances of the case a total sentence of five years imprisonment was unduly lenient for six counts of rape, taking into account double jeopardy a total sentence of 10 years would be substituted.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2424
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Nelson J, Jack J)
5 September 2003
Successful appeal against conviction for rape, attempted rape and indecent assault where the judge failed to adequately direct the jury on the proper approach to the separate treatment of counts in two sets of joined charges arising from the allegations of two complainants, who were stepdaughters of the appellant.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2441
CA (Crim Div) (Latham LJ, Gage J, Eady J)
15 August 2003
Where the appellant had convinced the complainant that she was going to be raped and had overcome her resistance, there was ample evidence to justify the conclusion that he had taken steps beyond the merely preparatory stage and was guilty of attempted rape.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1976
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Gage J, Mitting J)
29 July 2003
The appellant's conviction for murder was unsafe and had to be quashed where it was highly probable that the victim had been attacked by one man, and where the DNA evidence had excluded the appellant as the attacker.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2452
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Nelson J, Jack J)
28 July 2003
Where the defendant was a psychiatrist who abused his position of trust to rape and indecently assault vulnerable women patients a total sentence of eight years was unduly lenient and would be quashed. A total sentence of ten years was appropriate.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2367
CA (Crim Div) (Scott Baker LJ, Henriques J, Recorder of Bristol)
18 July 2003
Where a defendant was on trial for sexual offences and the complainant had made previous allegations of rape, the defendant could not question the complainant about the previous allegations unless there was evidence to show the previous allegations were false.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2067
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Cresswell J, Bennett J)
26 June 2003
A sentence of two years for the rape of a 15 year old virgin was unduly lenient. Following the guideline case of R v Millberry (2002) a sentence of four years would be substituted.
[2003] EWHC 1458 (Admin)
QBD (Admin) (Elias J)
11 June 2003
The Parole Board had not erred by admitting hearsay evidence of an allegation of rape at a hearing at which it concluded that the claimant should not be released on licence.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1741
CA (Crim Div) (Longmore LJ, Hooper J, Cox J)
22 May 2003
Life sentences were appropriate for grave offences of aggravated burglary, rape and buggery, however, a specified period ought to have been decided. In all the circumstances the recommendation of the Lord Chief Justice of a term of 11 years would be the correct specified period.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1620
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, Pitchers J)
14 May 2003
Where a sentence was referred by the Attorney-General, the reference should accurately reflect what happened at trial and prosecuting counsel should be consulted. The sentence of 18 months for conspiracy to rape was not unduly lenient.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1300
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Gray J, Roderick Evans J)
1 May 2003
Where the victim's character had been put in issue the judge was entitled to allow cross-examination on the defendant's previous convictions. The judge's summing up was fair and made clear that the relevance of previous convictions went to credibility only.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1388
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Royce J, Judge Mettyear)
30 April 2003
A custodial sentence of nine years and an extended period of five years for the rape of a 14 year old girl was too long. A sentence of eight years was appropriate with an extended period of two years.
[2003] EWHC 868 (Admin)
DC (Kennedy LJ, Hooper J)
16 April 2003
The requirement for a court to be satisfied that "exceptional circumstances" existed before granting bail to an alleged offender, to whom s.25 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 applied, did not violate the right to liberty enshrined in Art.5(3) European Convention on Human Rights.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1167
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Mitchell J, Leveson J)
14 April 2003
Where counsel had conducted two separate trials simultaneously and at the time was being investigated for allegations of rape, the court had to decide whether his conduct was so unreasonable so as to affect the fairness of the trial. The convictions were safe as there had been overwhelming evidence.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1256
CA (Crim Div) (Kay LJ, Goldring J, Cox J)
11 April 2003
Where a defendant had been assessed as fit to be interviewed by a psychiatrist and had his interests protected by an appropriate adult and solicitor there was no unfairness in allowing evidence of the interview to go before the jury. His conviction was therefore safe.
[2003] EWCA Crim 907
CA (Crim Div) (Mance LJ, Collins J, Judge Zucker QC)
3 April 2003
Although the judge's interventions in the course of the defendant's trial on counts of indecent assault and rape had not bolstered the complainant or belittled the defendant in the eyes of the jury to such an extent as to render the defendant's conviction unsafe, his summing-up not only failed the same test but also contained serious misdirections.
[2003] EWCA Crim 1078
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Morison J, Leveson J)
19 March 2003
A sentence of three years and ten months' imprisonment on one count of rape and two counts of indecent assault, which represented a course of conduct of abuse by a father against a daughter, was unduly lenient.
[2003] EWCA Crim 696
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, Mackay J, Judge Mellor)
17 March 2003
The judge had been correct to allow the jury to decide on the credibility of a 5 year old child in relation to alleged sexual offences by her step father, but the judge should have treated the case of the child's uncle differently because the allegations and evidence against him were much weaker.
[2003] EWCA Crim 951
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Gross J, Pitchers J)
12 March 2003
Where a defendant stated that allegations of sexual abuse were untrue the prosecution were entitled to cross examine on whether the defendant could give any explanation why the victim would make up the allegations.
[2003] EWCA Crim 485
CA (Crim Div) (Kennedy LJ, McCombe J, Treacy J)
27 February 2003
The defendant was rightly refused permission to adduce evidence that the complainant had lied at an earlier trial where the effect of such permission would be to circumvent the prohibition contained in s.41 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
[2003] EWCA Crim 135
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Stanley Burnton J, Judge Fawcus)
31 January 2003
A conviction for rape was overturned where the judge's summing-up had failed to provide the jury, which was faced with a somewhat complex evidential situation, with sufficient guidance as to the evidence capable of supporting the prosecution or the defence on the issues that arose. Suspicion that the jury may not properly have understood or performed their duty was reinforced by the verdicts they had returned in relation to the defendant's co-accused.
[2003] EWCA Crim 2072
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Gray J, Judge Rivlin QC)
24 January 2003
The prohibition of cross examination on previous sexual behaviour by s.41 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 meant that in allegations of rape a defendant could not cross examine a complainant to show that a previous allegation of rape had been false. The defendants conviction was therefore safe.
[2003] EWCA Crim 5
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Bell J, Andrew Smith J)
21 January 2003
An eight-year sentence was unduly lenient for two offences of rape where the victim was a child who had been in a position of trust vis-à-vis the offender. A three-year community rehabilitation order was unduly lenient for offences of indecent assault and indecency with a child. A six-month sentence coupled with an extended licence period of two years was unduly lenient for three counts of indecent assault against a child.
[2003] EWCA Crim 4
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Bell J, Andrew Smith J)
21 January 2003
The length of a custodial sentence imposed on an offender was unduly lenient given the gravity of the offences that he had committed.
[2002] EWCA Crim 2878
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Gibbs J, Davis J)
11 December 2002
A conviction of rape was quashed where pre-trial evidence that would have cast doubt on the reliability of prosecution witnesses had not been disclosed.
[2002] EWCA Crim 2784
CA (Crim Div) (Mance LJ, Douglas Brown J, Mitchell J)
10 December 2002
A lies direction was only necessary in relation to a defendant when there was a risk of a jury concluding that a defendant had lied and might wrongly draw an adverse inference of guilt from the mere fact he had done so. It was unnecessary for a judge to give a further specific direction as to a complainant's lies where the inconsistency had been set out. Further there was no basis for considering the verdict unsafe because no such direction in relation to a complainant was given.
[2002] EWCA Crim 2891
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Woolf of Barnes LCJ, Rose LJ, Hallett J)
9 December 2002
Revised sentencing guidelines for rape offences.
[2002] EWCA Crim 2075
CA (Crim Div) (Colman J, Stanley Burnton J)
31 July 2002
The imposition of an extended period of licence under s.85 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 on a defendant convicted of rape was neither wrong in principle nor excessive.
[2002] EWCA Crim 2089
CA (Crim Div) (Rix LJ, Roderick Evans J, Judge Crowther QC)
31 July 2002
The late disclosure of material relating to the complainant's credibility amounted to unfairness in the proceedings. In the circumstances the court could not be confident that if explored the jury might not have been affected by the unfairness.
[2002] EWCA Crim 1855
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Field J, Recorder of Birmingham)
19 July 2002
Evidence was not fresh or new evidence where an accused had known of its existence but had chosen not to tell his legal team about it.
[2002] EWCA Civ 775
CA (Civ Div) (Simon Brown LJ, Laws LJ, Arden LJ)
31 May 2002
There was insufficient proximity to found a negligence claim between the victim of a rape, committed by a man due to be deported but released by the Secretary of State for the Home Department pending an application for the writ of habeas corpus, and the secretary of state.
[2002] EWCA Crim 1320
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Field J, Recorder of Birmingham)
31 May 2002
Evidence relating to a specific unrelated allegation that was proposed to be used to undermine the credibility of a witness was not evidence that the witness had a general reputation for untruthfulness. It was therefore not an exemption to the rule of the finality requirement of questions put on issues of credibility and collateral matters. Consequently, it was inadmissible evidence.
[2002] UKPC 29
PC (Trin) (Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Hutton, Lord Millett, Foscote;, Sir Andrew Leggatt)
29 May 2002
A failure by a judge to inform a defendant of his right to seek an adjournment while legal advice was sought did not amount to a miscarriage of justice.
[2002] EWCA Crim 1141
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Woolf of Barnes LCJ, Mantell LJ, Leveson J)
10 May 2002
The conviction of James Hanratty for capital murder in 1962 was not unsafe and fresh prosecution DNA evidence linking him to the offence was admissible. * Application for leave to appeal to the House of Lords pending.
[2002] UKPC 17
PC (Gren) (Lord Steyn, Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough, Lord Millett, Lord Scott of Foscote, Sir Philip Otton)
21 March 2002
The Court of Appeal of Grenada's dismissal of the appellant's conviction for attempted rape was quashed and the case remitted for the appellant to seek leave to appeal on fresh grounds.
[2002] EWCA Crim 730
CA (Crim Div) (Judge LJ, Holman J, Mackay J)
19 March 2002
The conviction of a defendant, who had alleged police fabrication of interview records containing admissions, yet at trial had accepted the accuracy of the records, stating that his statements at interview were false, was considered safe after consideration of the material before the trial jury and the inconclusive expert evidence obtained after the trial.
[2002] EWCA Civ 314
CA (Civ Div) (Schiemann LJ, May LJ, Jonathan Parker LJ)
14 March 2002
The Immigration Appeal Tribunal had erred in its refusal of an Albanian woman's application for asylum, in part because it had failed to recognise her fear of being raped.
[2002] EWCA Crim 542
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Collins J, Moses J)
25 February 2002
To determine whether an automatic life sentence should be imposed on a convicted rapist, the court had to consider whether he was an unacceptable risk to the public. The mere fact there was a risk of him committing a more minor offence that had previously featured in his record did not justify an automatic life sentence.
[2002] EWCA Crim 195
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Steel J, Goldring J)
8 February 2002
The absence of the Judicial Studies Board specimen directions four and five in relation to an accused's silence at trial did not, in the circumstances, render his conviction for rape unsafe. There had been a sufficiently compelling case for the accused to answer at the close of the prosecution case.
[2002] EWCA Crim 353
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Jackson J, Owen J)
4 February 2002
Where the respondent had aided and abetted the rape of a five-month old baby, a sentence of four years' imprisonment was not unduly lenient.
[2002] EWCA Crim 177
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, David Steel J, Goldring J)
23 January 2002
A sentence of eight years' imprisonment for raping a victim during a two-hour attack in her own home was lenient but not unduly so.
[2001] EWCA Crim 2851
CA (Crim Div) (Henry LJ, Douglas Brown J, Astill J)
21 December 2001
Verdicts were inconsistent as a set of facts could not be suggested that was consistent with both the verdicts given on each count and the Crown's case.
[2001] EWCA Crim 2844
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Rougier J, Stanley Burnton J)
19 December 2001
Although a trial judge should have exercised his discretion and allowed the defence to cross-examine the complainant, who had made allegations of rape and indecent assault, in relation to a matter pursuant to the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 s.41(5), that error did not render the trial unfair because the matter was not central to the defence case.
[2001] EWCA Crim 2699
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, Rafferty J, Judge Zucker QC)
4 December 2001
Judges would do well to reflect before incautiously refusing applications for adjournments so that expert advice could be available to the defence. Whilst each case would turn on its own facts, the interests of defendants and the need for vigilance in complying with Art.6 European Convention on Human Rights called for careful analysis of the implications before a ruling was given.
[2001] EWCA Crim 2550
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Curtis J, Roderick Evans J)
19 November 2001
Although two jurors had been overheard discussing the case on a bus, in particular the alleged prejudice against the defendant by a member of the jury, the convictions were safe because of the judge's direction to consider the verdicts only on the evidence.
QBD (Leeds) (Gray J)
15 November 2001
There was a common sting between imputations of rape, sexual assaults and attacks in one part of an allegedly libellous article and an imputation that the claimant psychiatrist had had an exploitative sexual relationship with a female patient in a part of the article not complained of.
[2001] EWCA Crim 2273
CA (Crim Div) (Holman J, Grigson J)
25 October 2001
Where the appellant had kidnapped and raped his victim, a notional determinate sentence of 24 years was manifestly excessive and was substituted with a term of 13 years.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1877
CA (Crim Div) (Keene LJ, Garland J, Burton J)
26 July 2001
Questions or evidence about false statements in the past by a complainant about sexual assaults or a failure to complain about the alleged sexual assault that was the subject matter of the charge, while complaining about other sexual assaults, were not ones "about" any sexual behaviour of the complainant for the purposes of s.41 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1604
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, David Steel J, Grigson J)
10 July 2001
Section 58 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 did not have retrospective effect; therefore licence periods could not extended under that provision for offences which occurred before 30 September 1998.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1635
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Rougier J, Grigson J, Morrison J)
9 July 2001
A sentence of five years' imprisonment for an offence of rape, where the rape of a young Muslim girl had affected her marriage prospects and her position in the community, was unduly lenient. The sentence was quashed and substituted with a term of eight years.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1856
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Bell J, Silber J)
4 July 2001
Where the appellant, who had been convicted of indecent assault and attempted rape, did not pose a significant risk to the public, the appropriate sentences were three years and six years' imprisonment respectively.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1644
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Woolf of Barnes LCJ, Wright J, Grigson J)
3 July 2001
Cross-examination of a rape victim on prior consensual sexual intercourse with the defendant's brother was not allowed under s.41 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 where the defendant's position would not be improved by allowing the cross-examination and the questioning proposed would have been inconsistent with the policy of s.41 of the 1999 Act.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1563
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Brown J, HH Judge Goddard)
28 June 2001
Where the judge had properly directed the jury on the relevance of the appellant's deception in order to facilitate sexual intercourse to the issue of consent, the conviction for rape was safe. However, the nine-year sentence imposed was manifestly excessive and was substituted with a term of eight years.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1534
CA (Crim Div) (Turner J, Douglas Brown J)
22 June 2001
A sentence of eight years' imprisonment for rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm where a husband had brutally raped his wife, who had consented to such activity in the past, was not excessive.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1381
CA (Crim Div) (Mance LJ, Sir Richard Tucker, Judge Gordon)
14 June 2001
Whether the defendant appreciated the complainant's inability to consent to sexual intercourse was a matter for the jury and should not have been addressed by an expert giving evidence on the effect of alcohol on the complainant.
[2001] UKHL 25
HL (Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Steyn, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Clyde, Lord Hutton)
17 May 2001
The test of admissibility of evidence of previous sexual relations between a complainant and an accused in a rape trial was whether the evidence and questioning concerning it was so relevant to the issue of consent that to exclude it would endanger the fairness of the trial under Art.6 European Convention of Human Rights.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1275
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Hunt J, Mitting J)
9 May 2001
A sentence of three years' imprisonment for the rape of a babysitter was unduly lenient and was substituted with a term of four years. Anticipation that a complainant would be an easy touch could not give rise to mitigating circumstances in relation to rape.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1159
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Penry-Davey J, Judge Evans)
8 May 2001
A nine-year sentence for making obscene and malicious telephone calls was not manifestly excessive.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1228
CA (Crim Div) (Kay LJ, Sachs J, Sir Swinton Thomas)
1 May 2001
The absence of any indication of the period of time after which the appellant could be considered no longer to pose a risk of future offending meant that an indeterminate sentence was required.
[2001] EWCA Crim 1054
CA (Crim Div) (Henry LJ, Steel J, Judge Rivlin QC)
26 April 2001
The trial judge was right to make orders allowing the complainant in a rape trial to give evidence in chief via a video link and to be cross-examined via a live television link. The appellant's sentence of three years nine months' imprisonment was quashed and substituted with a term of three years taking into account the 15-month delay in bringing the matter to trial and the appellant's age.
[2001] UKPC 20
PC (Trin) (Lord Steyn, Lord Cooke of Thorndon, Lord Clyde, Lord Hutton, Lord Millett)
10 April 2001
An appellate court had to approach complaints about counsel's incompetence and its effect with a healthy scepticism. However, where the breaches of duty were fundamental the conclusion had to be that the defendant was deprived of due process.
[2001] EWCA Crim 644
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, Stanley Burnton J, Sir Rhys Davies QC)
21 March 2001
Where there was a previous account by a complainant before a jury which did not of itself constitute evidence, but to which the jury was likely to have regard in reaching a verdict, the jury had to be directed that recent complaints were not evidence of what happened but could at best be treated as admissible to establish consistency with the evidence of the complainant given at trial.
[2001] EWCA Crim 562
CA (Crim Div) (Potter LJ, Hallett J, Gibbs J)
13 March 2001
A judge was entitled to question a child complainant in a rape case where she had refused to undergo further cross-examination by defence counsel in order to ensure a fair trial.
HL (Lord Steyn, Lord Hope, Lord Millett)
7 March 2001
The Crown and the Secretary of State for the Home Department were given leave to be joined as parties to an appeal that turned on the compatibility of s.41 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 with the European Convention on Human Rights.
[2001] EWCA Crim 445
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Connell J, Forbes J)
28 February 2001
Unless a solicitor had given evidence concerning the reasons for advising a no comment interview, a court could assume that a defendant so advised would additionally have been advised of the adverse inferences rule under s.34 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
[2001] EWCA Crim 468
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Collins J, Jack J)
19 February 2001
A conviction for an offence of rape was regarded by the Court of Appeal as unsafe in the exceptional circumstances where comments made to the jury by defence counsel at the trial damaged the appellant's case. Accordingly, following receipt of a letter from prosecuting counsel detailing the contents of defence counsel's comments, the Court of Appeal was left with the view that the conviction had to be quashed.
HCJ (Lord Reed)
16 February 2001
The 23-month delay between juveniles being charged with rape and the date fixed for their trial, which meant the hearing would not take place within a reasonable time under Art.6(1) European Convention on Human Rights, contained many unaccountable periods of inactivity by the prosecution such that the defendants' plea in bar of trial was sustained.
[2001] EWCA Crim 571
CA (Crim Div) (Mance LJ, Hunt J, Judge Pitchers)
12 February 2001
A judge was entitled to take the view that any exercise of discretion to allow the Crown to cross-examine a defendant on his previous convictions should only be made if it became necessary after hearing the defendant's evidence.
CA (Henry LJ, Douglas Brown J, Judge Martin Stephens QC)
21 December 2000
A judge had not acted wrongly in refusing to stay proceedings where there had been a considerable lapse of time between the initial offences and the trial because he had dealt with the consequential problems adequately in his summing-up.
HL (Lord Steyn, Lord Cooke of Thorndon, Lord Clyde, Lord Hutton, Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough)
14 December 2000
The House of Lords overruled the decision of the Court of Appeal that DNA samples that should have been destroyed under s.61 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 were not admissible in a trial for a separate matter. DNA evidence obtained as a result of the prohibited investigation was admissible, but s.64(3B)(b) of the Act had to be read in conjunction with s.78 of the Act, and under s.78 there was a discretionary power to exclude that evidence if it was unfair to admit it.
CA (Crim Div) (Henry LJ, Poole J, Sir Brian Smedley)
13 December 2000
In a rape trial the Crown did not have to chose whether it was proceeding on the basis of the "knowing" or "reckless" elements of mens rea, and even if it had not put recklessness in cross-examination it was proper and indeed necessary for the issue to be left to the jury.
CA (Crim Div) (Henry LJ, Poole J, Sir Brian Smedley)
1 December 2000
An appeal against a rape conviction was allowed because the judge failed to direct the jury on genuine mistaken belief in respect of the issue of consent.
CA (Crim Div) (Otton LJ, Hidden J, Judge Richard Brown)
28 November 2000
Where an allegation of rape was non-justiciable, the judge had a discretion to admit the evidence as similar fact or background evidence in relation to other sexual offence charges. Careful consideration was required however and, if admitted, careful directions would be required from the judge.
CA (Crim Div) (Henry LJ, Poole J, Sir Brian Smedley)
24 November 2000
Where a guilty plea had been entered unequivocally after consideration of legal advice and where there was no suggestion of any mental deficit, suggestibility, pressure or inducement, a judge was correct in not exercising his discretion to allow that plea to be vacated and plea of not guilty entered.
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Newman J, Rafferty J)
8 August 2000
A sentence of between seven and eight years' imprisonment was appropriate where an offender had pleaded guilty to 13 counts of indecent assault, encompassing every form of sexual activity, on his daughter.
CA (Crim Div) (Henry LJ, Richards J, Sir Charles McCullough)
28 July 2000
In an appeal against a sentence of three years' imprisonment for one offence of indecent assault, the judge was wrong to have made reference to an unsubstantiated allegation whilst sentencing and therefore should not have sentenced the appellant on the basis that he was a danger to women. Accordingly, the sentence was quashed and substituted with a term of 18 months' imprisonment.
HCJ Appeal (Lord Rodger LJG, Lord Cowie, Lord Caplan)
28 July 2000
In a successful appeal against conviction for rape, the conviction was quashed because the defence was not properly presented to the jury with the result that the defendant did not have the fair trial to which he was entitled.
QBD (Smith J)
28 July 2000
It was not desirable to require the Secretary of State for the Home Department to give pre-action disclosure in circumstances where he was never likely to come under a duty to make such disclosure during the proceedings because the proposed claim had poor prospects of success and was liable to be struck out.
HL (Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Browne-Wilkinson, Lord Hutton, Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough, Lord Millett)
22 June 2000
Provided that a defendant was not placed in double jeopardy, evidence that was relevant on a subsequent prosecution was not inadmissible because it showed or tended to show that the defendant was, in fact, guilty of an offence of which he had earlier been acquitted. Previous acquittals could be admitted as similar fact evidence in a current trial
CA (Crim Div) (Mance LJ, Newman J, Burton J)
15 June 2000
A conviction for attempted rape was dismissed on appeal because the judge had failed to direct the jury that evidence of a victim's complaint had limited status and could not be evidence of the facts contained in the complaint.
CA (Crim Div) (Tuckey LJ, Langley J, Judge Rivlin QC)
8 June 2000
In an appeal against a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment for one offence of rape, whilst the sentence would, under usual circumstances, be regarded as unduly lenient for such an offence, having regard to the powerful and exceptional mitigating features, the sentence would be quashed and substituted with a term of 12 months' imprisonment.
CA (Mantell LJ, Penry-Davey J, Judge Fabyan Evans)
25 May 2000
In an unsuccessful appeal against conviction and sentence for offences of supplying Class A drugs, false imprisonment and rape, the fresh evidence presented before the Court of Appeal failed to render the conviction unsafe. Having had regard to the circumstances surrounding the offences, a total sentence of 13 years' imprisonment was neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle, and accordingly, that appeal also failed.
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Jowitt J, Hallett J)
23 May 2000
A three-year probation order was an unduly lenient sentence for an offence of rape having regard to both the facts of the case and the remarks made in Attorney-General's Reference (No.24 of 1999) (2000) CAR(S) 275. Accordingly, the sentence would be quashed and substituted with a term of two-and-a-half years' imprisonment.
CA (Crim Div) (Buxton LJ, Moses J, Judge Colston QC)
18 April 2000
Defendant's appeal against his convictions for rape were dismissed because his fresh evidence did not reveal any grounds of appeal.
CA (Crim Div) (Roch LJ, Smith J, Moore-Bick J)
10 April 2000
A conviction for buggery pre-Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 did not equate to rape within the meaning of s.2(5)(e) Crime (Sentences) Act 1997; the defendant's appeal against his life sentence was allowed.
CA (Crim Div) (Henry LJ, Hidden J, Astill J)
27 March 2000
It was a procedural irregularity for the trial judge not to have summed-up the evidence. Counsels' closing speeches were no substitute for a judicial and impartial review of the facts from the trial judge who was responsible for ensuring that an accused had a fair trial.
CA (Crim Div) (Rose LJ, Alliott J, Jackson J)
24 March 2000
The defendant's appeal against a conviction for one offence of rape was dismissed because the trial judge correctly directed the jury that they could draw adverse inferences: (i) from facts relied upon in defence not mentioned to the police; and (ii) from the "Lucas direction" on lies, with respect to a single response made by the defendant.
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Kay J, Sachs J)
23 March 2000
A judge had not been wrong to impose on a life-long paedophile a long determinate sentence rather than a sentence of life imprisonment for 22 sexual offences including buggery and rape committed against a number of children over an eight-year period, as psychiatric evidence offered some prospect of his being cured of his deviant predilections.
DC (Rose LJ, Alliott J)
10 March 2000
The Crown Prosecution Service had not been under a duty to consult with the alleged victim of sexual offences before determining whether to discontinue the prosecution of those offences.
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Brian Smedley J, Crane J)
17 February 2000
Where there was no special features in a rape trial, the judge was not obliged to give a cautionary warning on the need for corroboration of the complainant's evidence such as that contemplated in R v Makanjuola (1995) 2 Cr App R 469.
CA (Crim Div) (Beldam LJ, Dyson J, Richards J)
28 January 2000
In an appeal against conviction for offences of attempted rape and threats to kill, there was no good reason to admit, at trial, the transcript of another suspect's police interview in that the evidence contained within it amounted to hearsay and was accordingly inadmissible. For those reasons, the conviction would not be regarded as unsafe and was dismissed.
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Rougier J, Newman J)
26 January 2000
Fresh evidence had to provide a basis for a conclusion that the conviction was unsafe. Credible evidence of a credible admission that a witness had committed perjury at trial may be a good ground for allowing an appeal.
CA (Crim Div) (Mantell LJ, Klevan J, Judge Martin Stephens QC)
14 January 2000
In an appeal against conviction for one offence of rape, in the absence of the judge's direction to the jury not to speculate on the fact that the defence had not called a certain witness, it was apparent that an adverse inference had been drawn by the jury which was capable of rendering the conviction unsafe and it was accordingly quashed.
CA (Crim Div) (Lord Bingham of Cornhill LCJ, Tucker J, Hallett J)
12 January 2000
A three-year probation order for offences of attempted rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child was clearly regarded as an unduly lenient use of the judge's sentencing discretion and was accordingly substituted with a sentence of 18 months' detention in a young offender institution.
CA (Crim Div) (Evans LJ, Alliott J, Ebsworth J)
20 December 1999
Guidelines on directing the jury where there was a long delay in charges being brought.
CA (Crim Div) (Laws LJ, Hidden J, Judge Norman Jones QC)
16 December 1999
Whilst the requirement for corroboration in rape cases had been abrogated, where there were numerous inconsistencies in a complainant's evidence a warning against convicting on the uncorroborated evidence of a complainant should be given.
CA (Crim Div) (Pill LJ, Rougier J, Newman J)
16 December 1999
It was not safe for a jury to convict a defendant of rape on the evidence of a complainant when medical evidence concluded that the account given was anatomically impossible.
CA (Crim Div) (Waller LJ, Johnson J, Latham J)
19 November 1999
In an unsuccessful appeal against conviction for rape, the complainant's inconsistent evidence had been properly left to the jury and the verdict was not unsafe even though the appellant had been acquitted of another count of rape.
QBD (Brian Smedley J)
4 December 1998
Whether challenging issues of guilt in civil proceedings was an abuse of process.