Jermaine Nathaniel Junior Lewis and Others v The Queen
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Sir Brian Leveson,Mr Justice Royce,Mr Justice Haddon-Cave |
| Judgment Date | 21 January 2014 |
| Neutral Citation | [2014] EWCA Crim 48 |
| Docket Number | Case No: 201203813 B1; 201305828 B1; Case No: 201206392 B4; 201206412 B4 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) |
| Date | 21 January 2014 |
[2014] EWCA Crim 48
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE CROWN COURT AT BIRMINGHAM
The Honorary Recorder of Birmingham
(His Honour Judge Davis Q.C.)
T2012 7038; T20117989 and T20127196
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Sir Brian Leveson
(THE PRESIDENT OF THE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION)
Mr Justice Royce
and
Mr Justice Haddon-Cave
Case No: 201203813 B1; 201305828 B1;
201204007 B1; 201204005 B1; 201203883 B1.
Case No: 201206392 B4; 201206412 B4
S. Rupasinha for Jermaine Nathaniel Junior Lewis
K. A. Metzger for Nicholas Shaun Trevor Francis
G. S. Garcha for Amirul Rehman and Tyrone Martell Laidley
J. Wood Q.C. and R. Thomas for Wayne Courtney Collins
P. Wilcock Q.C. for Beniha Laing
J. Bartfeld for Wesley Gray
A. Lockhart Q.C. and S. Davis for the Crown
The President of the Queen's Bench Division:
This case is probably unique in the annals of public disorder in this country in recent times. Late in the evening of Tuesday 9 th August 2011, a group of some 42 masked or hooded individuals assembled outside the "Bartons Arms" public house in the Aston area of Birmingham. It had occupants upstairs. Members of the group proceeded to break into The Barton Arms and set the ground floor alight with petrol bombs which they had brought with them; its furniture was strewn over the A34 road outside. This was done deliberately to entice the police to the scene. When police officers arrived, members of the group used at least four different firearms to discharge at least 12 rounds in their direction. The police were forced to withdraw and, fortunately, nobody was struck. The group then moved off by foot through Aston. During their move away at least one further shot was fired at a police helicopter that was deployed to track their movements. Much of the incident was captured on CCTV or video footage taken from the helicopter itself.
There was a substantial investigation. Arrests were made, some at the scene. There were two lengthy trials, both conducted in the Crown Court at Birmingham before the Honorary Recorder, His Honour Judge Davis Q.C. The first trial lasted from 23 rd April to 7 th June 2012 and involved eight defendants: Jermaine Lewis, Nicholas Francis, Tyrone Laidley and Wayne Collins, Amirul Rehman, Renardo Farrell, Salman Shah and Joyah Campbell. Lewis, Francis, Laidley and Collins were convicted of riot, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and were respectively sentenced to a total of 23 years, 30 years, 23 years and 18 years imprisonment (or, in the case of Laidley, detention). Rehman was convicted of riot and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and sentenced to a total of 12 years detention. Farrell was convicted of the same offences as Lewis, Francis, Laidley and Collins and sentenced to 18 years in a young offender institution. Salman Shah and Joyah Campbell were acquitted. Lewis, Collins, Laidley and Rehman subsequently lodged appeals.
The second trial, founded on the same facts with similar evidence and issues, took place between 10 th September and 9 th October 2012 and involved four defendants: Beniha Laing, Wesley Gray, Janine Francis and Nadine Banbury. Laing and Gray were similarly convicted of riot, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. In addition, both were also convicted of different offences of possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition without authority. Laing was sentenced to a total of 35 years imprisonment (which included 5 years imprisonment consecutive for a firearms offence unrelated in time) and Gray to a total of 29 years imprisonment. Janine Francis was convicted of various offences of possession of prohibited firearms and sentenced to a total of 7 years 6 months imprisonment. Nadine Banbury was convicted of two offences of possession of prohibited firearms and sentenced to a total of 5 years imprisonment. Laing and Gray subsequently also lodged appeals.
The cases arrive at this court by different routes. Lewis and Rehman appeal against conviction by leave of Sir David Calvert-Smith; they also renew applications for leave to appeal against sentence (as does Laidley) and Collins renews applications for leave to appeal against conviction and sentence in each case following refusal of leave by the same judge. Laing and Gray appeal against conviction and sentence by leave of Leggatt J. The recent appeals of Francis against conviction and sentence have been referred to the court by the Registrar. Having regard to the common issues that arise, the appeals and applications have been heard together. Although not strictly accurate, for convenience we shall refer to them collectively as "the appellants".
The Facts
It is a matter of public record that riots commenced in London on Saturday 6 th August 2011. Very quickly, these riots had spread to various other parts of the country, including Birmingham. There was evidence that a group, which included some of the defendants, had begun to assemble in Birmingham from about the afternoon of Sunday 7 th August 2011.
During the evening of Tuesday 9 th August, a police car on patrol in the Aston area reported driving through a group of masked youths, some of whom had thrown objects at his vehicle. CCTV footage showed a group of 26 masked youths going past The Barton Arms, one of whom was carrying an object resembling a candle. The group moved briefly to Park Lane, where the window of a taxi cab was broken.
At about midnight on 9 th August, the group then doubled back and attacked The Barton Arms. It was then that petrol bombs were used to set it alight and furniture from it was thrown into the A34 to block the road. Just as the public house was set alight, a second group of masked youths arrived. A collective roar of greeting went up. In the moments thereafter a car containing 3 special constables arrived, two of the group who were near this car than ran back towards the remainder of the group shouting words to the effect that the Police were now present. The group, almost to a man, then set off across the main road in the direction of where the car containing the special constables had been seen. This car moved away towards the public house but just at that moment a convey of police vehicles containing officers trained in the containment of public order arrived. The group moved away back over the main road to the Burlington Street junction. A section of the group slowly backed away and as they did so, a number of them fired at the police with handguns. At least one shot was fired at a police helicopter hovering overhead. Cartridges from a 9 mm pistol and a 2.25 calibre pistol were found at the scene. At one point on the escape route in Clifton Close the evidence showed that a member of the group took up a position as if to fire at the police helicopter. Later is was plain that a further shot had been fired in the direction of the helicopter as it hovered above. Various cartridges were found on the escape route used by some of the group, including a fired cartridge from a 9 mm weapon connected to a Fegarmy pistol later found in Bromfield Close. With the exception of two unknown individuals, most of the group moved through Aston. The group began to disperse as officers arrived and a number of arrests made (including some of the appellants).
The prosecution alleged that those who now appeal to this Court were involved, all of whom lived either in Birmingham or elsewhere in the West Midlands, save for Collins who lived in Luton. His movements, prior to the incident, thus became relevant. During the afternoon of 7 th August, Collins travelled from his home address to Birmingham and, that evening, there was irregular telephone contact between Collins and Lewis. At about 23.15 hours, police officers spotted Laidley and his car outside a "Dixie Chicken" takeaway restaurant. He was in conversation with a man called Anderson who was in a separate car. Four further cars, including both Collins' car and another in which Lewis was seen as an occupant some two months later, arrived together. A short while later all six cars departed: they appeared to be in convoy.
The car being driven by Anderson was stopped by police in the early hours of the following morning. Gray was present in the car and his DNA was later to be recovered from a gun subsequently found with ammunition at the address of Janine Francis, with whom Gray had contact. That gun, a 9mm Fegarmy Pistol, had been used to fire the spent cartridge later recovered from Vicarage Road; the point of dispersal of the group. In the early hours of the following morning, there was repeated telephone contact between Laidley and Gray.
Between 16.30 and 17.00 on 9 th August, a resident of Clifton Close in the Aston area of Birmingham witnessed a large group of young black males congregate; and two older men in their early to mid-thirties, to whom the younger men appeared to pay attention, also arrived. The resident overheard snatches of the loud conversation including the phrases, "Do not worry, I am armed up" and "I have got tings" (i.e. guns).
Attack on The Barton Arms
At about 23.40 that evening, PC Burgess was on patrol with a colleague in a marked police car in Aston....
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