Noel Jones [2019] EWCA Crim 1059

The applicant pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment which he has served. 37 years later he sought leave to appeal out of time against conviction.

He was initially charged with murder and pleaded guilty to manslaughter part way through the trial. He had made admissions which he now states were not true, and parts were not consistent with the evidence or facts as known to the police. Another male was subsequently convicted of manslaughter and the sexual assault of the deceased, a trial at which the applicant gave evidence. The Crown now accept that the admissions can no longer be treated as objectively reliable. The contemporary DNA evidence supports the case that there was only one attacker and that was Stephen Hough, the male subsequently convicted.

Held: it is beyond argument that here is a discretion to admit an appeal against conviction where an unambiguous guilty plea has been entered. Leave to appeal out of time was unhesitatingly granted and the appeal was allowed.