In court
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059504200317 |
| Published date | 01 September 1995 |
| Date | 01 September 1995 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
INCOURT nWhere a police caution has been
administered in clear breach of the Home
Office’s guidelines (currently in HOC 18/
1994) it is open to the Divisional Court
i
to exercise judicial review. A boy aged
12 had been cautioned for theft but the
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police had failed to comply with the
condition that an offender has to admit
the offence and also, in the case of a
On referral by the Attorney-General, the
child under 14, to establish that he knew
Court of Appeal concluded that sentence
that what he was doing was seriously
of three years probation for indecent
wrong.
assault and indecency with a child was
The Divisional Court thus quashed
not unduly lenient, given the exceptional
the caution and ordered it to be expunged
circumstances. The offender was the
from police records. The Court also
uncle of the victim, a girl aged six, and
considered it advisable for a tape
had misused his position of trust, not
recording to be made of the cautioning
only touching the child indecently but
procedure in the case of juveniles, to
requiring her to handle his penis. The
ensure that the guidelines are
offences were not persistent and did not
scrupulously followed and to provide a
involve penetration but the Court gave
record of what happened should a
greater weight to the personal mitigation
challenge arise. R v METROPOLITAN POLICE
arising from the offender’s low
COMMISSIONER EX PARTE P The Times. 24
intelligence and his physical disabilities,
May 1995.
ie partial deafness and blindness in one
eye. Though it is not clear from the
judgement why ’physical handicap’ (sic)
should attract mitigation, the Court
appeared to be persuaded that probation
supervision would be more effective in
..i , ; ~~,,
getting the offender to accept the
seriousness of his behaviour. ATTORNEY-
GENERAL’
S RfiF. No 35 oF
1994 (1995) 16
Sentence of six months imprisonment for
Cr App R(S) 635.
possession of 1.69 grammes of crack
cocaine was upheld by the Court of
Appeal: R v SCARLETT...
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