A district judge had failed to appreciate when deciding to retain jurisdiction to prosecute a young offender in the youth court for child sex offences that an amendment to the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 s.3B introduced by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 s.53 was not in force when he made his decision.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE CHILD SEX OFFENCES COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL CRIME AND DISORDER ACT 1998 s.51A CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND COURTS ACT 2015 s.53 CRIMINAL LAW CRIMINAL PROCEDURE JURISDICTION MODE OF TRIAL POWERS OF CRIMINAL COURTS (SENTENCING) ACT 2000 s.91(1) RAPE OF CHILD UNDER 13 RELIANCE ON AMENDMENT TO COMMITTAL FOR SENTENCE PROCEDURE NOT YET IN FORCE RETENTION OF JURISDICTION IN ERROR s.31 s.3B s.3B(1) s.3C s.51A(3) s.5A(1) s.6 s.91 s.91(3) YOUNG OFFENDERS YOUTH COURTS
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.
CRIMINAL LAW FALSE IMPRISONMENT GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM KIDNAPPING LIFE IMPRISONMENT MINIMUM TERM POWERS OF CRIMINAL COURTS (SENTENCING) ACT 2000 s.82A(4) RAPE s.47 s.82A SENTENCING SERIOUSNESS OF OFFENCE WHOLE LIFE ORDERS
The creation of indecent pseudo images of children, by superimposing photographs of a child’s head onto photographs of naked adults in indecent poses, constituted possession, and not production, of indecent photographs of children within the sentencing guidelines. Production offences did not include those where pseudo images were made using images taken from other sources. A sentence of two years’ imprisonment imposed on an offender of previous good character was reduced to a five-month suspended sentence with a requirement to attend a sexual offences treatment programme.
CRIMINAL LAW INDECENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDREN MITIGATION OUTRAGING PUBLIC DECENCY POSSESSION PRODUCTION SENTENCING SENTENCING GUIDELINES STARTING POINT VOYEURISM
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.
ADMISSIBILITY BAD CHARACTER CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL LAW JURY DIRECTIONS PROSECUTION CASE RAPE SEXUAL ASSAULT
An offender who had been incorrectly convicted of indecent assault instead of gross indecency with a child had his appeal against conviction allowed and his sentence reduced to six years’ imprisonment.
CHILDREN CONSENSUAL SEXUAL CONTACT BETWEEN MUSIC TEACHER AND 15-YEAR-OLD PUPIL CONVICTIONS CRIMINAL LAW GROSS INDECENCY INDECENCY WITH CHILDREN ACT 1960 s.1 INDECENT ASSAULT OFFENCE NOT INDECENT ASSAULT BUT GROSS INDECENCY WITH CHILD s.1(1) s.14 SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT 1956 s.14(1)
A judge had not erred in refusing an application for an interim non-disclosure order where the interests of publishers and the public under the ECHR art.6 and art.10 outweighed the interests of a person under art.8 who had been arrested but not formally charged following an investigation into allegations of child sex grooming and prostitution.
art.6 art.8 art.8(2) CHILD SEX OFFENCES CONTEMPT OF COURT ACT 1981 s.4(2) CORRECTNESS OF REFUSAL TO IMPOSE INTERIM NON-DISCLOSURE ORDER ON PUBLISHERS CRIMINAL LAW CRIMINAL PROCEDURE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 1950 art.10 HUMAN RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT NEWSPAPERS NON-DISCLOSURE ORDERS OPEN JUSTICE RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE s.4 SUSPECT ARRESTED BUT NOT CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX OFFENCES
The court gave guidance on a jury direction required in relation to establishing the elements of the offence of indecent assault.
CRIMINAL LAW CRIMINAL PROCEDURE INDECENT ASSAULT JURY DIRECTIONS SEXUAL OFFENCES SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT 1956 s.14(1) UNSAFE CONVICTIONS
An offender seeking to challenge his conviction for indecent assault on the ground that his actions had been the result of hypoglycaemia caused by his type 1 diabetes could not admit fresh expert evidence where it failed to deal the question at issue, namely, whether he had only recalled the assaults during his police interview because his solicitors had taken him through the disclosure document beforehand.
AUTOMATISM CHILD SEX OFFENCES CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL LAW CRIMINAL PROCEDURE DIABETES EXPERT EVIDENCE FRESH EVIDENCE GUILTY PLEAS HYPOGLYCAEMIA INDECENT ASSAULT
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.
CONSENT COUNTS CRIMINAL LAW CRIMINAL PROCEDURE INCONSISTENT VERDICTS JURIES PREVIOUS INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS RAPE
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.
ABUSE OF POSITION OF TRUST ADMISSIBILITY CONSENT CRIMINAL EVIDENCE CRIMINAL LAW HONEST BELIEF RAPE SENTENCE LENGTH SENTENCING SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR YOUTH JUSTICE AND CRIMINAL EVIDENCE ACT 1999 s.41
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