2019 - CCRC are they 'Duking the Stats'?

['Duking the Stats', making it look like you have achieved something, when, you have not.]

So far this year the CCRC have made Twenty Referrals to the CoA, of these, five served less than six months in prison, and two served no time at all.

Eight of this year's referrals all more than entitled to have appeals did not necessitate the massed guns of the CCRC!

Four of these are very simple: Immigration offences, charged with failing to produce an immigration document, contrary to section 2(1) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. Should have been entitled to rely on the statutory defence under section 2(4)(c) Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004, and that that defence would have succeeded.

One Immigration offence was (contrary to 25(1)(a) of the Identity Cards Act 2006) (repealed in 2010)

A second was a victim of trafficiing.

All of these five had a statutory defence under section 2(4)(c) of Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004, that ought to have been available to them when first prosecuted.

Several of these referrals to the CCRC was made by leading UK Immigration Solicitors, who could have made the appeals of their own volition. The CCRC should have refused the referrals and told them to make the appeals themselves!

Now the CCRC have said they will trawl convictions of anyone arrested by Detective Sergeant Ridgewell in the seventies (his usual tactic was to confront young black men at Tube stations and accuse them of theft as well as assaulting police officers if they resisted arrest). Well and good, but would the CCRC's priorities be bettered served by getting on with dealing with the hundreds of cases already on their books. Many of whom are doing serious time.

MOJUK or anyone else for that matter, should not infer that the CCRC are "Juking the Stats", making it look like they have achieved something when in reality, they have not.

 20 referrals made by the CCRC so far in 2019 to December 11th 2019

CCRC Refers 2012 Murder Conviction of C. Hunnisett to Court of Appeal

C. Hunnisett was tried at Lewes Crown Court in 2012 for the murder of Peter Bick. He pleaded not guilty and the Judge directed the jury on issues of loss of control, self-defence and diminished responsibility. C. Hunnisett was convicted of murder in May 2012 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years. He tried to appeal against conviction in 2015 but were unsuccessful and applied to the CCRC later that year. They were transferred from prison to a secure hospital in 2018.
Having reviewed the case in detail, including having obtained and considered new psychiatric opinion, the Commission has decided to refer the case for appeal. The referral is based on new expert evidence suggesting that C. Hunnisett was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killing, that in the Commission’s view raises a real possibility the Court will quash the murder conviction and replace it with one for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. If the conviction is so replaced, the likely outcome is that the prison sentence for murder will be replaced with a prison sentence with a direction that C. Hunnisett be detained in hospital. Mr Hunnisett was not represented in his application to the Commission.

CCRC Refers Human Trafficking Case of Ms A To Crown Court
The Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the conviction of Ms A to the Crown Court in light of a change in law and fresh evidence that she is a victim of human trafficking both into and within the UK, and that it was not in the public interest to prosecute her. On 19 August 2005 Ms A pleaded guilty at Stoke-on-Trent Magistrates’ Court to two counts of theft, two counts of dishonestly obtaining communication services, possession of a false instrument (a passport) and obtaining a pecuniary advantage. She was sentenced to a total of 14 months in prison.

CCRC refers the conviction of Mr L to the Crown Court 22nd October 2019 (Immigration)
Mr L appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court where, on the advice of a solicitor, he pleaded guilty to failing to produce a satisfactory immigration document. He was convicted and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. (Sentenced to three months’ imprisonment)

CCRC refers the case of Miss S to the Crown Court 16th September 2019 (Immigration)
She was arrested and charged with failing to have an immigration document contrary to sections 2(1) and (9) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. On advice of a local legally aided solicitor she pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates Court and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment. (Sentenced to four months’ imprisonment)

CCRC refers conviction of Mr C for appeal 30th July 2019 (Immigration)
In September 2011 he used that false passport to board a flight from Greece to Manchester. During the flight he gave the false passport back to the agent. After landing he told airport staff he had no passport and he was arrested. Four days later he appeared at Trafford Magistrates' Court, where, having been advised to do so by a solicitor, he pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to provide a valid immigration document contrary to section 2(1) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. He was jailed for four months. (Sentenced to four months’ imprisonment)

CCRC refers the case of Ms E to the Crown Court 27th March 2019 (Immigration)
She was arrested at Gatwick and charged failing to produce an immigration document, contrary to section 2(1) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. She was remanded in custody overnight at a police station. The following day, on the advice of a solicitor paid for by Legal Aid, Ms E entered a guilty plea at Crawley Magistrates' Court. She was convicted and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. Ms E was not able to appeal against her conviction because there is no right of appeal for people who plead guilty in a magistrates' court. (Sentenced to three months’ imprisonment)

CCRC refers the human trafficking related case of GB to the Court of Appeal. 1st March 2019 (Immigration)
Ms B was arrested after she presented a false UK passport to an immigration officer at Gatwick Airport as she tried to catch a flight to Canada. After receiving legal advice, Ms B admitted in interview to being a Sudanese national and to using a false travel document to try to board a flight to Canada. In May 2008 at Lewes Crown Court, she pleaded guilty to an offence under section 25(1)(a) of the Identity Cards Act 2006. (sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.)

Commission refers the case of Tracey Newell to the Court of Appeal 21st August 2019 (No time in prison)
On 29 November 2012, at Inner London Crown, Ms Newell pleaded guilty to seven counts of benefit fraud. The counts related to claims for Housing and Council Tax Benefit covering the period from 1 August 2005 to 5 December 2012. The prosecution case was that Ms Newell failed to declare seven bank accounts of which she was either sole account holder or joint account holder with her father. In January 2013, Ms Newell was sentenced to 18 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and 150 hours unpaid work. Confiscation proceedings were instigated.

CCRC refers conviction of W. Smith to County Court of Northern Ireland 12th February 2019 (No time in prison)
Mr Smith was convicted in his absence at Belfast Magistrates Court in June 2011 in relation to a drink driving offence committed in July 2005. He was fined £400 and banned from driving for 12 months. Mr Smith was arrested on a money warrant on New Year's Eve 2011 due to non-payment of the fine and was taken directly to prison where he spent six days.

CCRC Refers Murder Conviction of Adrian Jones to Court of Appeal- November 2019
Mr Jones was convicted at Swansea Crown Court in July 2008 for the murder of Kelly Hyde who was killed while walking her dog in September 2007. The prosecution case was that Mr Jones, who was aged 16 at the time, was responsible for the murder of the deceased. Mr Jones claimed that he did not know and had had no contact with her. Because of his age at the time he was sentenced to detention at Her Majesty's pleasure with a minimum prison term of 11 years and 79 days. Mr Jones tried to appeal against his conviction but his appeal was dismissed in October 2009. After his appeal Mr Jones accepted his responsibility for the killing. He applied to the CCRC for a review of his case in September 2015.

CCRC Refers Sentence of Amin Kaveh to  Court Of Appeal - November 2019
Mr Kaveh was convicted at Chelmsford Crown Court in 2016 of one count of conspiracy to supply the class B drug mephedrone and three counts of supplying mephedrone. He was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for the conspiracy offence. For the supply offences he was sentenced to a total of one year’s imprisonment, to be served concurrently. Mr Kaveh tried in 2017 to appeal against his conspiracy sentence but was unsuccessful; he applied to the CCRC in August 2018. Having reviewed the case in detail, the CCRC has decided to refer Mr Kaveh’s sentence for conspiracy to supply to the Court of Appeal. The referral is made on the basis of new evidence of material non-disclosure that the Commission believes gives rise to a real possibility the Court of Appeal would find the sentence to be manifestly excessive.
Mr Kaveh was not represented in his application to the CCRC.

CCRC Refers the Case of George Griffiths – A Third Oval Four Conviction November 2019
Mr Griffiths was convicted along with three other men at the Old Bailey on 8th November 1972. All four were convicted of assaulting a police officer and attempted theft. Mr Christie was also convicted of the theft of a police woman’s handbag. The four men became known as the Oval Four. On 14th October, the CCRC referred the convictions of two of the Oval Four co-defendants, Mr Winston Trew and Mr Sterling Christie, to the Court of Appeal on the basis of the misconduct of an officer involved in the case. More details of the case and the reasons for the CCRC referral are set out here. Mr Griffiths, who has lived abroad for a number of years, learned through media coverage of the Commission’s referral of his co-defendants and contacted the CCRC through journalist Duncan Campbell who wrote about the case for The Guardian newspaper.

CCRC Refers Firearms Offences of Gary Lee Williams To Court of Appeal - November 2019
Mr Williams pleaded not guilty but was convicted in May 2007 at Wolverhampton Crown Court of Possession of a Firearm with Intent to Endanger Life, Possession of a Prohibited Firearm, Possession of Expanding Ammunition, Violent Disorder and Wounding with Intent to Cause Grievous Bodily Harm. The charges related to two separate incidents. He was sentenced to Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) with a minimum of seven years to serve for the wounding and the possession of a firearm with intent, and to five years’ imprisonment, to be served concurrently, for possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of expanding ammunition. No separate penalty was imposed for the violent disorder.

CCRC Refers the Case of M, a Minor to the Crown Court October 2019
The Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred for appeal the sexual offences conviction of M. M, who was minor at the time of conviction and therefore cannot be identified, pleaded not guilty but was convicted at Youth Court in 2015 on two counts of sexual offences against another minor. M was sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order and a sexual harm prevention order.

CCRC refers the convictions of Winston Trew and Sterling Christie on the basis of police misconduct. 14th October 2019
Messrs Trew and Christie and one other defendant were sentenced to two years' imprisonment. The youngest defendant was sent to Borstal (a youth detention centre). All four men appealed. Their appeals against conviction failed but the appeals against sentence succeeded and the prison sentences were reduced from two-years to eight months.

CCRC refers the terrorism related case of Michael Devine to the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal. 11th April 2019
Mr Devine [1] was convicted in Belfast Crown Court in February 1981 of ten offences including attempted murder, firearms offences, conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice, and membership of a proscribed organisation. He pleaded not guilty at trial but was convicted and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.

CCRC refers the terrorism related case of Nicholas Roddis to the Court of Appeal 26th March 2019
He was convicted in July 2008 and sentenced to a total of seven years' imprisonment (two for placing a hoax bomb and five, to run consecutively, for the preparation of an act of terrorism). He was acquitted by the jury on four other charges.

CCRC refers the terrorism related conviction of Ismail Abdurahman to the Court of Appeal 6th February 2019
Mr Abdurahman pleaded not guilty but was convicted and sentenced to a total of ten years' imprisonment. He appealed and his sentence was reduced to eight years, but his appeal against conviction was dismissed.
CCRC refers the joint enterprise murder conviction of Andre Johnson-Haynes to th
e Court of Appeal 15th January 2019
Mr Johnson-Haynes, who was 17 at the time of the murder, was ordered to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure with a minimum term of 12 years' imprisonment – the starting point for youths in such circumstances.