Fox v Patterson
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 04 June 1948 |
| Date | 04 June 1948 |
| Docket Number | No. 13. |
| Court | High Court of Justiciary |
HIGH COURT.
Lord Justice-General. Ld. Carmont. Ld. Russell.
Evidence—Theft—Reset—Possession of goods recently stolen—Conditions requisite for raising presumption of guilt.
An accused, charged with the theft of a quantity of phosphor bronze, was convicted of reset. He and his father were both scrap-metal merchants in Glasgow, the son having the use of the father's premises and vehicles. It was proved that the accused had sold the stolen metal to one of his father's customers for a fair price, delivering it himself in lorries which were weighed at a public weighbridge, receiving payment by cheque, and that he offered to make repayment when he learned from the police that he was suspected of theft. The accused, corroborated by two witnesses, gave evidence that he bought the phosphor bronze from a Motherwell man who had approached him in Glasgow and had subsequently delivered the metal at his father's premises. He produced a receipt for the price, headed (by hand) "M'Quade Motherwell," and signed "James M'Quade." The police had been unable to trace any such person, and the Sheriff-substitute disbelieved the defence evidence.
Held that, if the possession of stolen goods is to raise a presumption of guilt which an accused must rebut in order to escape conviction, three conditions must concur, viz., (1) the goods must be found in his possession, (2) they must have been recently stolen, and (3) there must be other criminative circumstances; that accordingly, as the first and third of these conditions were not satisfied, the Sheriff-substitute was not entitled to convict merely because he disbelieved the defence evidence; and the conviction quashed.
Victor Fox was charged in the Sheriff Court at Hamilton on a complaint at the instance of Joseph Clarence Patterson, Procurator-fiscal, which set forth that "you did, between 28th September 1947 and 9th October 1947, both dates inclusive, in the store occupied by Cub Oil Engines, Limited, at 43 Main Street, Overtown, Parish of Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, steal 1 ton 18 cwts. 2 qrs. 7 lbs. of phosphor bronze."
The case was tried on 16th December 1947, when the Sheriff-substitute (Bryden) found the accused guilty of reset of the phosphor bronze specified in the complaint, and, at his request, stated a case for appeal to the High Court of Justiciary.
The case set forth that the following facts were admitted or proved:—"(1) The appellant is eighteen years of age. He formerly resided at 97 Danes Drive, Glasgow, but now resides with an aunt at 17 Bellgrove Street, Glasgow. (2) The appellant's father, Victor Fox senior, carries on business as a scrap metal merchant at Shawbridge Street, Glasgow. The appellant carries on a similar business, and has the use of his father's premises and vehicles for this purpose. (3) In and for some months prior to October 1947 Victor Fox senior had a contract with Cub Oil Engines, Limited, for the collection and purchase of scrap metal which the said...
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Cryans v Nixon
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Note Of Appeal Against Conviction And Sentence By Lieuwe Hoekstra And Jan Van Rijs And Ronny Van Rijs And Hendrik Van Rijs V. Her Majesty's Advocate
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Calvin Powell and Another v R
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Ronique Raymond v R
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In the Scottish Courts
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