R v Donna McCool and Michael Harkin
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Morgan LCJ |
| Judgment Date | 22 May 2015 |
| Neutral Citation | [2015] NICA 31 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 22 May 2015 |
| Year | 2015 |
Neutral Citation No. [2015] NICA 31
Ref:
MOR9651
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
Delivered:
22/05/2015
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN HER MAJESTY'S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
THE QUEEN
-v-
DONNA McCOOL and MICHAEL HARKIN
_________
Before: Morgan LCJ, Coghlin LJ and Gillen LJ
_________
MORGAN LCJ (giving the judgment of the court)
[1] These are renewed applications for leave to appeal by two applicants who
were convicted, following pleas of guilty, of offences of false accounting contrary to
section 17(1)(a) of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 and making false
declarations with a view to obtaining benefits contrary to section 105A(1) of the
Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992. For these offences they
were each sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Following sentencing, the judge
made confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”) in
respect of both applicants in the sum of £38,814.77 each. The applicants seek leave to
appeal their respective confiscation orders on the grounds that, due to the dates of
offences, the judge had no jurisdiction under the 2002 Act; the judge erred in his
calculation of the benefit received; the amount of benefit calculated was
disproportionate and in breach of ECHR; and the confiscations orders were
manifestly excessive. Mr Hutton appeared for McCool, Ms Devlin for Harkin and Mr
Crawford for the PPS. We are grateful to all counsel for their helpful written and oral
submissions.
[2] Donna McCool dishonestly claimed Income Support from September 1990
and Jobseekers Allowance from July 2010 in that she completed forms declaring
herself to be single whereas in fact she was married to Michael Harkin. She pleaded
guilty to 4 counts relating to 4 separate false representations made on 26 September
1990 (count 1), 28 November 2003, 20 October 2005 and 10 August 2010. She was
sentenced on 6 June 2013 by His Honour Judge Grant to 5 months imprisonment and
at the hearing the prosecutor asked the court to proceed to confiscation under the
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1 cases
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R v McCool
...[2018] UKSC 23 Before Lord Mance, Deputy President Lord Kerr Lord Reed Lord Hughes Lady Black Supreme Court Easter Term On appeal from: [2015] NICA 31 Appellant (McCool) Barry Macdonald Dessie Hutton (Instructed by Madden & Finucane) Appellant (Harkin) Fiona Doherty QC Catherine Devlin (Ins......