Queen v Abbas Boutrab (also known as Yocef Djafari, also known as Abbas Fawwaz, also known as Brahmin Abaoui)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Weatherup J |
| Judgment Date | 24 November 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] NICC 36 |
| Date | 24 November 2005 |
| Court | Crown Court (Northern Ireland) |
| Year | 2005 |
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Neutral Citation No. [2005] NICC 36 Ref:
WEAF5406
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
24/11/2005
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN THE CROWN COURT AT BELFAST
_______
THE QUEEN
-v-
ABBAS BOUTRAB
(also known as YOCEF DJAFARI,
also known as ABBAS FAWWAZ,
also known as BRAHMIN ABAOUI)
_______
WEATHERUP J
The charges.
[1] The defendant Abbas Boutrab faces five charges.
On the first count he is charged with possession of articles for a
purpose connected with terrorism, contrary to Section 57(1) of the Terrorism
Act 2000. The particulars of offences are that on 14 April 2003 he had 25
computer discs which contained text, photographs and diagrams in his
possession in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that the
items were in his possession for a purpose connected with the commission,
preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.
On the second count he is charged with collecting information likely to
be useful to terrorists contrary to Section 58(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The particulars of offences are that between 7 October 2002 and 15 April 2003
he collected or made a record of information namely the 25 computer discs
which was of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing
an act of terrorism.
On the third count he is charged with handling stolen goods, contrary
to Section 21(1) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. The particulars of
offence are that on 14 April 2003 he dishonestly undertook or assisted in the
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retention, removal, disposal or realisation of a Nokia mobile phone by or for
the benefit of another or arranged to do so knowing or believing the same to
be stolen goods.
On the fourth count he is charged with using a false instrument
contrary to Section 3 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981. The
particulars of offence are that between 16 July 2002 and 24 September 2002 he
used a passport in the name of Fabio Parenti with the intention of inducing an
employee of Lynn Recruitment to accept it in discharge of the duty imposed
by Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 (the duty on an
employer of an immigrant to require the production of a specified identity
document).
On the fifth count he is charged with having custody or control of a
false instrument contrary to Section 5(2) of the Forgery and Counterfeiting
Act 1981. The particulars of offence are that on 14 April 2003 he had in his
custody or under his control without lawful authority and excuse the
passport in the name of Fabio Parenti which he knew or believed to be false.
The detection and arrest of the defendant.
[2] On 8 April 2003 members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
attached to the Foreign National Unit attended a flat at Whitehouse Court,
Newtownabbey, County Antrim as a result of an incident involving an attack
on a foreign national by an unknown person. Detective Sergeant Hawthorne
and Detective Constables Thompson, Brown and Ritchie spoke to the
occupier of Flat 2E who identified himself as Abbas Boutrab, an Algerian
national who was seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. Police were
suspicious of the identity of the person identifying himself as Abbas Boutrab
and on return to base further enquiries led police to believe that he was
wanted by police in the Republic of Ireland under the name of Yocef Djafari,
an Algerian national who had applied for asylum in the Republic of Ireland.
A search warrant was obtained under the Immigration Act 1971 and on
14 April 2003 the same four members of the Foreign National Unit together
with Immigration Officers Harkin and McCusker and uniformed police
officers conducted a search of the flat occupied by the defendant. Detective
Constable Ritchie arrested the defendant under Section 24 of the Immigration
Act 1971 as he had reasonable cause to suspect that the defendant was
illegally in the United Kingdom. The defendant was taken to Antrim Road
Police Station.
[3] The search of the defendant’s flat on 14 April 2003 led to the seizure of
a number of items. Detective Sergeant Hawthorne seized items that included
20 floppy discs and 5 compact discs which were in a chest of drawers beside
the bed. These items were labelled RH2 and are the articles that found the
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first and second charges against the defendant. Detective Constable
Thompson seized items that included 19 audio cassette tapes and then as a
separate item 18 audio cassette tapes. Detective Constable Brown seized items
that included 3 mobile phones and a mobile phone charger. One Nokia
mobile phone and one Trium mobile phone together became one item. One
Trium mobile phone and the charger together became another item. The
Nokia mobile phone founds the third charge against the defendant.
Documents were seized that were in the name of Fabio Parenti, namely a
passport, an identification card that included a photograph, an Italian cash
card and Inland Revenue documents. The passport in the name of Fabio
Parenti founds the fourth and fifth charges against the defendant. In addition,
assorted documents were seized that included a Belfast City library card in
the name of Abbas Boutrab, two notebooks and various handwritten notes, a
London underground ticket and three passport sized photographs.
[4] On 11 June 2003 a further search was undertaken at the defendant’s flat
by Detective Sergeant Ennis and Detective Constables Kennedy and Stone.
Detective Constable Stone seized items that included a vehicle and engine
manual in English, a Jiujitsu combat manual in English, various handwritten
notes, a personal cassette player and various items of tools and equipment.
[5] On 3 November 2003 at HMP Maghaberry Detective Constable
Robinson arrested the defendant under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
From 3 November 2003 to 9 November 2003 the defendant was interviewed
by Detective Sergeant Ennis in the presence of his solicitor and an interpreter
Mr Djelloul Hamaz. On 9 November 2003 Detective Sergeant Ennis charged
the defendant with the present charges and after caution and in reply to each
charge he stated “I am not guilty”.
[6] The essence of the matters relied on by the prosecution on the first and
second charges was that the contents of the floppy discs had been
downloaded by the defendant from a computer in Belfast Central library and
contained information in connection with the making and use of explosives
for attacks on aircraft and the manufacture of silencers for firearms, which on
the prosecution case indicated a terrorist purpose in all the circumstances; on
the third charge that the defendant was in possession of a stolen Nokia phone;
on the fourth and fifth charges that the defendant was in possession of a false
passport and had produced the passport to an employment agency, Lynn
Recruitment, in order to obtain employment.
The defendant’s challenge to the continuity and integrity of the items
seized.
[7] The defendant made a fundamental challenge to the continuity and
integrity of the items seized from the defendant’s flat. The challenge related to
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2 cases
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R v G; R v J
...[1973] 1 WLR 483. The authorities on section 58, other than R v K, have not considered the precise scope of the defence: see R v Boutrab [2005] NICC 36; R v F [2007] QB 960 and R v McLaughlin [1993] NI 28. In R v McLaughlin [1993] NI 28 the judge did not believe the defendant but neverthele......
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Queen v Graham Richard Harkness
...discs containing a menu for the manufacture of explosives and silencers in a political and terrorist context in R v Abbas Boutrab [2005] NICC 36. In both Rowe and Boutrab the respective sentences were passed after a contest. [22] As the learned trial Judge emphasised in his carefully constr......