R v Tottenham Justices, ex parte Rubens
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Date | 1970 |
| Year | 1970 |
| Court | Divisional Court |
Crime - Plea - Guilty - Plea of guilty before justices - Committal to quarter sessions for sentence - Appeal against conviction on ground that plea equivocal - Case remitted to justices - Refusal by justices to deal with case - Whether jurisdiction in quarter sessions to remit - Whether jurisdiction in justices to enter plea of not guilty.
On January 30, 1969, the applicant, who was not represented, pleaded guilty before justices to obtaining petrol by false pretences with intent to defraud. A police officer outlined the facts of the case to the justices and read a statement made by the applicant in the course of the police investigations. The applicant, having asked for 11 other offences to be taken into consideration, was committed to quarter sessions for sentence. Quarter sessions, having sentenced him to a term of imprisonment, granted the applicant leave to appeal against his conviction out of time, on the ground that his statement was inconsistent with guilt and showed his purported plea of guilty to be equivocal. The applicant was given legal aid and his sentence was rescinded. On April 2, 1969, a differently constituted court heard the appeal, held that the plea was equivocal and ordered the case to be remitted to the justices for trial. The justices declined to act on the ground that they were functus officio. Quarter sessions ordered the applicant's appeal to be reinstated and, at the hearing, the court (again differently constituted) purported to dismiss the appeal against conviction, and was about to pass sentence on the original committal when it was informed of the applicant's intention to apply to the Divisional Court for orders of mandamus, certiorari and prohibition, and accordingly, adjourned further consideration of the case.
On applications for orders of mandamus requiring the justices to enter a plea of not guilty, certiorari to quash the dismissal of the appeal by quarter sessions, and prohibition to restrain quarter sessions from passing sentence:—
Held, granting the applications, that where the issue was whether or not a plea was equivocal, the issue could be determined and the plea changed at any stage in the proceedings before the appeal was disposed of; accordingly, quarter sessions (on April 2) were acting within their jurisdiction when they decided that the material before the justices disclosed an equivocation in the plea and ordered the case to be remitted to the justices for trial; and subsequent proceedings before quarter sessions were a nullity.
The following cases are referred to in the judgments:
Reg. v. Blandford Justices, Ex parte G. (An Infant) [
Reg. v. Durham Quarter Sessions, Ex parte Virgo [
Reg. v. Riley [
S. (An Infant) v. Recorder of Manchester [
No additional cases were cited in argument.
APPLICATIONS for orders of mandamus, certiorari and prohibition.
The applicant, Graham Martin Paul Rubens, pleaded guilty before Tottenham Justices to obtaining petrol by false pretences with intent to defraud and was committed to Middlesex Quarter Sessions for sentence. On his appeal against conviction, quarter sessions found his plea of guilty to be equivocal and ordered the case to be remitted to the justices, who declined to act on the ground that they were functus officio. Quarter sessions then ordered the appeal to be reinstated, dismissed the appeal, but adjourned the case before passing sentence pending applications to the Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Division for orders of mandamus, certiorari and prohibition.
The facts are fully stated in the judgment of Bridge J.
Brian Galpin for the applicant.
Donald Farquharson for the respondents.
LORD PARKER C.J. Bridge J. will give the first judgment.
BRIDGE J. In these proceedings Mr. Galpin moves on behalf of Graham Martin Paul Rubens for orders of mandamus, certiorari and prohibition in the following circumstances. On January 30, 1969, the applicant appeared, unrepresented, before the Middlesex Justices at Tottenham Petty Sessions. He was charged with obtaining a quantity of petrol by false pretences with intent to defraud. He pleaded guilty. When the facts were outlined to the justices by the police officer in charge of the case, he read out a statement which the applicant had made relating to the facts of the offence in the course of the police investigations. Thereupon the applicant asked the court to take 11 other offences into consideration and the justices committed him for sentence to Middlesex Quarter Sessions under section 29 of the
He first appeared at quarter sessions pursuant to that committal on February 12, 1969, when the matter was adjourned for medical reports. He appeared again on February 28, 1969, and on that occasion Mr. Richard Vick was the deputy chairman presiding. Having heard, no doubt, speeches in mitigation, for the applicant was by this time represented by counsel, the...
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