R v Corrigan (Patrick)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Stephens J |
| Judgment Date | 06 June 2014 |
| Neutral Citation | [2014] NICA 85 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 06 June 2014 |
| Year | 2014 |
1
Neutral Citation No. [2014] NICA 85
Ref:
STE9216
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
Delivered:
06/06/2014
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN HER MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
THE QUEEN
v
PATRICK CORRIGAN
________
Before: HIGGINS LJ, GIRVAN LJ and STEPHENS J
_________
STEPHENS J (delivering the judgment of the Court)
Introduction
[1] This is an appeal by Patrick Corrigan (“the appellant”) from his conviction on
7 November 2013, at the conclusion of a trial with a jury at Craigavon Crown Court
and by a unanimous jury verdict, of the offence on count 1 on the indictment of
being knowingly concerned on 2 July 2012 in carrying 1.1 million cigarettes with
intent to defraud Her Majesty of any duty payable contrary to Section 170(1)(b) of
the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (the “1979 Act”). On 9 September
2013, at his arraignment, the appellant had pleaded guilty to the offence on count 3
on the indictment of being knowingly concerned on 9 November 2012 in carrying
100,000 cigarettes with intent to defraud Her Majesty of any duty payable contrary
to Section 170(1)(b) of the 1979 Act. On 6 January 2014 as a consequence of his
conviction on count 1 and his guilty plea on count 3 the appellant was sentenced by
the Learned Trial Judge to a determinate sentence of 11 months on count 1 and to a
consecutive sentence of 1 month on count 3, a total of 12 months imprisonment. The
Learned Trial Judge also ordered the destruction of the cigarettes. The appellant
appeals from the conviction on count 1 with leave of the single judge. Following the
hearing we allowed the appeal and stated that we would give our reasons later
which we now do. The appellant was represented by Mr Greene while Mr Maguire
appeared on behalf of the prosecution.
2
Factual background
[2] The appellant, 62, lives with his wife and son outside Dundalk. He
commenced employment in 1967 at the age of 16 with the Irish Transport Authority,
CIE. He remained in that employment for 24 years and the work that he undertook
mainly consisted of maintaining buses. He took early retirement in 1992 and then
acquired an HGV licence. He was subsequently employed for approximately 6 years
as a lorry driver by Salmon Transport, a company based in Moira, Northern Ireland.
His job involved driving lorries between Ireland and the United Kingdom. This
employment came to an end when illness caused him to lose his HGV licence and he
has since been in receipt of disability benefit.
[3] There were two occasions when the appellant was found driving a van
containing cigarettes upon which duty had not been paid. The first was on 2 July
2012 and the second was on 9 November 2012.
[4] On 2 July 2012 police stopped a white Mercedes Sprinter van near the
Hillsborough roundabout on the A1. The driver was the appellant who was very
nervous and shaking when spoken to by the police. When asked what was in the
back of the van he replied “shoes” and that he was taking the consignment to York
Gate shopping centre in Belfast. As was normal with vans of this type the cab was
separated from the rear by a metal bulkhead. This meant that from the cab an
occupant could not see into the rear. It also meant that any odour emitted from
objects in the rear could not be smelt in the cab. In order to see what was being
carried in the rear of the van or to smell any odour, one of the doors to the rear of the
van would have to be opened. The police upon opening an unlocked door into the
side of the van noted a strong smell of tobacco. They also saw a number of
cardboard boxes which did not have any external labels or markings on them. The
police opened one of the boxes and found that it contained Kingsize Palace
cigarettes. It subsequently transpired that there were 10,000 such cigarettes in that
box and a total of 1.1 million cigarettes in the rear of the van. The vast bulk of these
were Palace cigarettes. There was a smaller number of Bond International branded
cigarettes which are not marketed in the United Kingdom. All of the cigarettes were
counterfeit. Upon seeing the cigarettes the appellant went to the side of the road and
was sick.
[5] At the scene the appellant informed the police that he had been paid £100 to
take the van to York Gate shopping centre car park and to leave it there for 30
minutes and that he had been approached by a Mr McNulty to do this job. He was
arrested and taken to Lisburn Police Station where he was interviewed on two
occasions by officers of HMRC on 2 July 2012. At his first interview and without
being invited to do so by the appellant, but in his presence, his solicitor, Naomi
Devlin of McKenna Sweeney McKeown, read what she described as “the prepared
statement of Patrick Corrigan.” Ms Devlin declined to make a copy of that statement
available to the interviewers on the basis that it had been read out for the purposes
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R v McMahon (Darren Joseph)
...or as in this case two convictions relating to one incident, can establish a propensity, that is to say a tendency, see R v Corrigan [2014] NICA 85 at paragraphs [25] and [26] and R v Hanson at paragraph [9]. There is no minimum number of events or convictions necessary to demonstrate a pro......