Results of cases referred to the Court of Appeal
The cases described below are those which have been heard by the Court of Appeal following referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, on the grounds that there is a real possibility that the conviction, finding, verdict or sentence may not be upheld.
Eight of the cases (marked with an asterisk) were among the 280 or so transferred to the Commission from the Home Office and Northern Ireland Office after 31 March 1997, when the Commission assumed responsibility for the investigation of suspected miscarriages of justice previously exercised by the Secretaries of State.
The cases are given in date order as heard by the Court of Appeal.
To view the full judgements on each case, please see the Smith Bernal (new window) website or the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (new window) website.
1. Mahmood Mattan*
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 23 September 1997, and quashed on 24 February 1998.
Mr Mattan was convicted on 24 July 1952 at Glamorganshire Summer Assizes, Swansea of the murder of Miss Lily Volpert in her shop in Bute Street, Cardiff on 6 March 1952. Leave to appeal was refused on 19 August 1952. Mr Mattan was hanged at Cardiff Prison on 3 September 1952.
The Commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal on 23 September 1997, and the conviction was quashed on 24 February 1998 when Lord Justice Rose, Mr Justice Holland and Mr Justice Penry-Davey ruled that the conviction was unsafe because the evidence of the main prosecution witness was unreliable.
2. Raymond Cook
Sentence referred to the Court of Appeal on 8 January 1998, and a shorter one substituted on 27 February 1998.
Mr Cook was convicted on 15 March 1996 at the Central Criminal Court of aggravated burglary and sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment. An appeal against sentence was rejected on 30 July 1996.
Mr Cook applied to the Commission for a review of conviction and sentence on 28 July 1997. The Commission referred Mr Cook's sentence to the Court of Appeal on 8 January 1998; the original sentence of four and a half years was quashed on 27 February 1998, and one of three years eleven months substituted by Lord Justice Rose, Mr Justice Holland and Mr Justice Penry-Davey, on the grounds that the original sentence had been imposed on the mistaken assumption that Mr Cook had a previous, similar conviction.
3. Patrick Nicholls
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 18 November 1997, and quashed on 12 June 1998.
Mr Nicholls was convicted at Lewes Crown Court on 24 November 1975 of the murder of Mrs Gladys Heath at her home in Worthing on 2 April 1975, and robbery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeal was refused on 7 July 1977.
Mr Nicholls applied to the Commission on 5 August 1997. The case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Commission on 18 November 1997. The conviction was quashed on 12 June 1998 by Lord Justice Roch, Mr Justice Bennett and Mr Justice Thomas on the basis of new pathological evidence which indicated that Mrs Heath had died from natural causes.
4. John Henry Taylor*
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 16 September 1997, and quashed on 18 June 1998.
Mr Taylor was convicted of burglary under the Larceny Act 1916 and given a five year sentence after a trial at the County of London Quarter Sessions, Newington Causeway, on 9 August 1962. The burglary had taken place at the offices of Diana Display Ltd in London on the night of 3 to 4 July 1962, and involved the theft of various items including a safe. An appeal in December 1962 was dismissed.
The Commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal on 16 September 1997, and the conviction was quashed on 18 June 1998 by Lord Justice Roch, Mr Justice Bennett and Mr Justice Thomas on the grounds that Mr Taylor had been inadequately represented at the original trial.
5. David Ryan James*
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 28 November 1997, and quashed on 28 July 1998.
Mr James was convicted at Stafford Crown Court on 25 May 1995 of the murder of his wife Sandra, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Mr James, a vet, was arrested and charged shortly after the death of Sandra James in January 1994. The cause of death was a fatal dose of immobilon, a drug used in veterinary practice to anaesthetise horses.
The Commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal on 28 November 1997, and the conviction was quashed on 28 July 1998 by Lord Justice Evans, Mr Justice Sedley and Mr Justice Hooper on the grounds that the terms of a note in Mrs James' handwriting, discovered more than two years after her death, were consistent with an intention to commit suicide.
6. Derek Bentley*
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 6 November 1997, and quashed on 30 July 1998.
Mr Bentley was convicted on 11 December 1952 at the Central Criminal Court of the murder of PC Sidney Miles. The constable was shot by Christopher Craig when the two were trapped by police during a warehouse break-in in Croydon; Derek Bentley was found guilty on the basis of police evidence that he had shouted 'Let him have it Chris' before PC Miles was shot. An appeal was dismissed on 13 January 1953. Mr Bentley was hanged on 28 January 1953 ; 16-year-old Craig escaped hanging.
In July 1993, on the recommendation of the Home Secretary, the Queen granted a posthumous pardon limited to sentence.
The Commission referred the case to the Court of Appeal on 6 November 1997, and the conviction was quashed on 30 July 1998 by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Bingham, Lord Justice Kennedy and Mr Justice Collins. In his judgment, the Lord Chief Justice ruled that there had been a number of significant misdirections to the jury by the trial judge Lord Justice Goddard.
7. Clovis Gerald*
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 11 February 1998, and upheld on 3 November 1998.
Mr Gerald was convicted on two charges, of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent, at Birmingham Crown Court on 25 February 1987. It was alleged at his trial that he had been involved with a gang responsible for the shooting of rival gang member John Lindo at the Acapulco Café in Handsworth in February 1986. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on each charge, to run concurrently.
Mr Gerald had neither applied for leave to appeal, nor appealed, but the Commission accepted his application on the grounds of 'exceptional circumstances'. The case was referred to the Court of Appeal on 11 February 1998 and the conviction upheld on 3 November 1998 by Lord Justice Rose, Mr Justice Scott Baker and Mr Justice Maurice Kay on the grounds that there was no evidence to show that access to a solicitor had been denied in circumstances that made the conviction unsafe.
8. James Hester*
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 7 April 1998, and quashed on 3 December 1998.
Mr Hester was convicted on 20 July 1995 at Bristol Crown Court of burglary, and sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment. The burglary took place on 1 February 1995 at a residential address in Weston-super-Mare and involved the theft of watches and jewellery, £10 in cash, a cheque book and cheque card. He was also sentenced to a consecutive term of twelve months' imprisonment for an offence of burglary to which he had pleaded guilty. Leave to appeal against conviction and sentence was refused on 28 March 1996.
Mr Hester first applied to the Home Office in April 1996. His case was subsequently transferred to the Commission, which referred it to the Court of Appeal on 7 April 1998. The conviction was quashed on 3 December 1998 by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Bingham, Mr Justice Forbes and Mr Justice Harrison, when new evidence was heard from an alibi witness, corroborated by the prescription records kept by a pharmacy. The Court felt that this threw enough doubt on the identification evidence for them to be unsure that Mr. Hester was rightly convicted.
9. Michael Gilfillan*
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 17 February 1998, and quashed on 7 December 1998. A verdict of guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility was substituted.
Mr Gilfillan was convicted on 15 July 1994 at Cardiff Crown Court of the murder of John Purbrick. Mr Purbrick died from injuries received in the course of a fight which had started in Mr Gilfillan's flat in Cardiff on 11 January 1994 and moved into the street, following complaints about loud music being played by Mr Gilfillan. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeal was dismissed on 10 April 1995.
Application was made to the Home Office in May 1996. The case was later transferred to the Commission and referred to the Court of Appeal on 17 February. The murder conviction was quashed on 7 December 1998 by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Bingham, Mr Justice Forbes and Mr Justice Harrison. In his judgement, the Lord Chief Justice ruled that the original conviction should be quashed and a verdict of not guilty of murder be recorded. A verdict of guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility was substituted, based on psychiatric evidence that Mr Gilfillan suffers from schizophrenia which was undiagnosed at the time of the offence. Orders under the Mental Health Act 1983 were also made, with the effect of confining Mr Gilfillan to Caswell Clinic, Bridgend, and restricting him without a time limit.
10. Danny McNamee*
The first conviction to be referred to the Court of Appeal by the Commission, on 7 July 1997; it was quashed on 17 December 1998.
Mr McNamee (full forenames: Gilbert Thomas Patrick) was convicted at the Central Criminal Court on 27 October 1987 of conspiracy to cause explosions. The prosecution case linked Mr McNamee's fingerprints, found on strips of adhesive tape in two separate caches of IRA arms, explosives and components, to parts of an amplifier board found after the Hyde Park explosion on 20 July 1982. It was further alleged that his thumbprint had been found on a battery component of a bomb found in Phillimore Gardens, London on 13 December 1983. An appeal was dismissed on 18 January 1991.
Application was made to the Home Office in September 1994, and the case was subsequently transferred to the Commission which referred it to the Court of Appeal on 7 July 1997. The conviction was quashed on 17 December by Lord Justice Swinton Thomas, Mr Justice Garland and Mr Justice Longmore who ruled that the verdict was unsafe because there had been a failure to disclose relevant evidence, even though the impact of the fresh evidence was not conclusive.
11. Graham Walker
Conviction referred to the Court of Appeal on 22 October 1998 and upheld on 19 January 1999.
Mr Graham Arthur Walker was convicted at Manchester Crown Court on 4 March 1997 of indecent assault and rape. The offences had taken place several years earlier. Application for leave to appeal was refused on 16 December 1997.
Mr Walker applied to the Commission for a review of conviction in July 1998, and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal on 22 October 1998. The conviction was upheld on 19 January 1999 by the Lord Chief Justice, Mr Justice Ian Kennedy and Mr Justice Jackson. The full judgement is awaited.
12. Edward Graham
Sentence referred to the Court of Appeal on 22 September 1998 and upheld on 12 February 1999.
Mr Edward John Graham was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court on 11 March 1994 of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on importation of a Class B controlled drug (cannabis). He was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment. A confiscation order of £96,564 was also made, with two years' imprisonment in default.
Mr Graham applied to the Commission for a review of sentence on 17 February 1998, and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal on 22 September 1998. The sentence was upheld on 12 February 1999 by Lord Justice Rose, Mr Justice Ognall and Mr Justice Burton on the grounds that Mr Graham had been sentenced lawfully in accordance with the prevailing tariff, and all factors relevant to sentence were known to the sentencing judge.
13. Robert Coleman
Sentence referred to the Court of Appeal on 17 December 1998 and appeal allowed on 15 February 1999, changing the sentence from consecutive to concurrent.
Mr Robert John Coleman was already serving a nine month prison sentence for a different matter when he was convicted on 1 May 1996 at Southampton Crown Court on five counts: burglary, taking a conveyance without authority, two counts of driving whilst disqualified, and using a vehicle without insurance. He received a new sentence of four years' imprisonment on the first count , twelve months concurrently for the second, and twelve months concurrently for counts three and four; he was also disqualified from driving for seven years. About an hour after sentencing, the judge recalled the case in the absence of Mr Coleman and his lawyers, and announced that the new sentence of four years would run consecutively to the existing nine months.
An appeal against sentence in October 1996 resulted in the reduction for the period of disqualification to four years, and the two twelve month sentences to six months each. Due to an oversight, the question of the consecutive sentence was not addressed and the Court was prevented by law from reopening the matter when the mistake was noticed.
Mr Coleman applied to the Commission for a review of sentence in August 1998, and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal on 17 December 1998. The appeal was allowed on 15 February 1999 by Lord Justice Swinton Thomas, Mr Justice Mitchell and Mr Justice Penry-Davey on the grounds that no order, least of all a sentence of imprisonment, should ever be imposed in the absence of a defendant or his legal representative. The sentence was varied so that the four year term ran concurrently instead of consecutively.